OF  THE 

1GHTEOUSI 

•By- 

JULIET  WILBOR1 
TOMPKINS 


,?, 


THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS 


"You  are  so  loyal  to  your  family  that  even  vou — ' 


THE  SEED  OF  THE 
RIGHTEOUS 


By 

TOMPKINS 


^iitJJfes  an4  Palaces,  et.c.i<etc. 


INDIANAPOLIS 

THE  BOBBS-MERRILL  COMPANY 
PUBLISHERS 


COPYRIGHT  1916 
THE  BOBBS-MERRILL  COMPANY 


PRESS    OF 

BRAUNWOHTH    &    CO. 

BOOKBINDERS    AND    PRINTER 

BROOKLYN,  N.  Y« 


Yet  have  I  not  teen  the  righteous  forsaken, 
nor  his  seed  begging  bread." 


2075441 


THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS 


THE  STATUE  OF  A  MAN, 

rr*  HE  street  was  wider  at  the  south  end  of 
the  block  than  at  the  north,  a  village 
eccentricity  which  the  big  city,  swallowing  the 
milage  whole,  had  not  troubled  to  correct.  Into 
the  wedge  of  extra  space  thus  [eft  had  been 
squeezed  a  tiny  park,  a  mere  symbol  of  green 
freedom,  inserted  like  a  buttonhole  down  the 
center  of  the  street.  The  tattered  lace-work  of 
the  iron  fence  enclosed  a  fading  sketch  of  a 
tree,  a  faint  blur  of  grass,  and,  standing  strong- 
ly against  the  wider  end,  the  statue  of  a  man. 
The  work,  though  crude,  had  been  sincerely 
done,  and  the  benignant  power  (of  the  middle- 
aged  form  had  saved  even  its  quaint  frock  coat 
and  the  top  hat  in  its  hand  from  the  missiles 
and  jests  of  that  swarming  neighborhood.  Or 
perhaps  its  immunity  lay  in  the  inscription 


THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS 

which  a  generation  of  street  arabs  had  shrilly 
spelled  out: 

SERENO  GAGE 
THE  FRIEND  OP  CHILDREN 

ERECTED   IN   LOVING   MEMORY   BY   THE 
CHILDREN  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES 

It  was  a  neighborhood  of  tight  little  brick 
houses,  here  and  there  a  green  door  with  a 
brass  knocker  or  a  richly  white  door  with  clean 
side-lights  testifying  to  some  stanch  old  resi- 
dent who  refused  to  be  driven  out  by  changed 
conditions.  House  after  house  had  given  up 
the  struggle,  first  relaxing  to  boarders,  then 
yielding  to  lodgers,  and  finally  abandoning  it- 
self to  foreign  hordes  and  smells,  while  greasily 
dark  little  shops  yawned  open  in  what  had  once 
been  tidy  basements.  Young  couples  with 
house  desires  and  flat  incomes  sometimes  moved 
in,  but  they  never  renewed  their  leases.  Round 
a  corner  from  the  little  park  a  door-plate  still 
said  SERENO  GAGE. 

In  all  their  comings  and  goings  the  widow 
and  children  of  Sereno  Gage  passed  his  statue: 
Mrs.  Gage  throwing  it  a  brisk  practical  glance 


and  remarking  that  the  city  ought  to  keep  it  up 
better,  Sabra  erecting  her  fine  head  as  though 
it  were  a  statue  to  herself,  Ralston  too  worried 
to  notice  it  unless  there  were  children  to  be 
ordered  off  the  fence,  and  Clotilda — Chloe,  the 
surprise  child,  who  had  come  long  after  the  old 
nursery  things  had  been  given  away,  lifting  a 
glance  pf  loving  question  to  the  father  she  had 
never  seen.  "And  don't  you  ever  wonder  about 
us?"  she  sometimes  asked  him.  But  Serena 
Gage,  who  had  given  his  life  to  the  cause  of  all 
children,  had  worked  for  them,  plead  for  them, 
initiated  half  the  modern  laws  and  societies  on 
their  behalf,  looked  out  as  obliviously  over  the 
heads  of  his  own  as  over  the  ragamuffin  heads 
that  bobbed  about  his  pedestal  on  summer  after- 
noons. Their  servant  had  departed  in  peace. 


THE 
SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS 

CHAPTER  I 

SABRA  closed  the  door  behind  her  softly, 
considerately,  as  though  giving  an  object 
lesson  in  the  proper  closing  of  doors,  and  ad- 
vanced to  the  breakfast  table  with  the  same 
fine  perfection  of  manner,  pausing  to  lean  on 
her  chair-back  and  look  successively  at  the 
others. 

"Mother,  Ralston,"  she  began,  "I  want  you 
to  consider  something,  quite  impersonally,  as 
though  I  were  not  concerned."  Chloe  was  also 
there,  and  Billy,  Ralston's  little  motherless  son, 
but  they  played  a  minor  part  in  the  family 
councils. 

Ralston  half  started  from  his  chair,  then 
dropped  back  again.  "Hang  it,  Sabra,  I  can't 
talk  before  I  go  to  work,"  he  protested  with 
confused,  helpless  irritation,  his  hands  fumbling 

1 


2      THE  SEED  OF]  THE  RIGHTEOUS 

as  though  to  gather  up  his  breakfast  for  flight. 
"You  know  how  it  puts  me  off.  I  felt  really 
creative  this  morning.  Oh,  a  writer  ought  to 
live  by  himself !" 

Sabra  took  her  seat  with  perfect  reasonable- 
ness. "Very  well.  It  will  disturb  Ralston,  so 
we  won't  talk  it  over  till  later,"  she  announced. 
"Mother,  dear,  I  hope  you  slept  well.  Good 
morning,  Chloe  and  little  Billy."  She  was 
handsome,  weighty,  as  poised  as  though  she 
breakfasted  on  a  public  platform  with  a  well- 
bred  unconsciousness  of  her  audience.  "I 
wonder  if  there  is  any  fresh  toast?" 

Chloe,  slim  and  brown  and  silent  as  some 
young  foreigner,  jumped  up  to  wait  on  her. 
Mrs.  Gage  was  reviewing  household  possibili- 
ties with  a  managing  eye.  She  was  a  long, 
gaunt,  soldierly  woman,  so  lined  and  weathered 
that  only  from  her  children  could  one  guess 
that  she  had  ever  been  fine-looking. 

"Ralston,  it  wouldn't  be  much  trouble  to  have 
a  tray  for  you  every  morning,"  she  offered. 
"Chloe  would  carry  it  up — wouldn't  you,  dear, 
to  help  your  brother's  work  ?" 

Chloe's  hesitation  lasted  a  bare  second,  no 


THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS       3 

longer  than  it  took  for  her  to  answer  her  own 
instinctive  protest  with  a  family  rebuke;  but 
Jlalston  cut  off  her  assent. 

"Why  trouble  Chloe?  She  does  enough  for 
me,  looking  after  my  child.  Billy  won't  always 
be  a  burden  on  you,  Chloe,"  he  added  with  sad 
patience.  "It  is  only  a  question  of  my  getting 
a  fair  chance  to  do  what  is  in  me.  I  have 
never  had  it  yet." 

Mrs.  Gage  looked  unhappy,  as  though  per- 
sonally reproached,  and  Sabra  with  her  trained 
pleasantness  offered  a  diversion. 

"Ralston,  will  it  disturb  you  if  I  tell  Billy  a 
dream  I  had  about  him?  I  think  it  will  amuse 
him." 

Ralston  with  one  movement  emptied  his 
coffee-cup  and  rose  from  the  table.  "Oh,  well, 
I  have  finished,"  he  said.  "Please  don't  tele- 
phone this  morning  if  you  can  help  it.  I  hear 
every  word.  Thank  heaven,  Billy  can  play  out- 
of-doors  to-day."  And  he  went  out,  profiting 
little  by  that  fine  example  of  door  closing. 

Sabra  interlocked  her  fingers  and  looked  out 
over  them  at  the  world.  "Now,  mother,  quite 
impersonally,"  she  began.  "If  I  make  a  good 


f 
4      THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS 

impression  at  the  Congress  this  afternoon,  I 
am  almost  certain  to  be  put  in  as  the  next 
president.  I  am  being  very  seriously  con- 
sidered. In  that  case  I  ought  to  give  up  my 
office  work."  Chloe  started,  and  for  an  instant 
Mrs.  Gage's  alert  face  sagged  into  old  age.  "I 
know.  I  realize  all  the  cost;"  Sabra  spoke 
strongly.  "But,  looking  at  it  as  a  whole,  isn't 
the  cause  of  eugenics  more  important  than  the 
earning  of  a  small  salary?" 

Her  mother  tried  to  grapple  fairly,  then 
slipped  down  to  a  side  issue.  "Your  Uncle 
Harry  won't  think  so,"  she  said  with  an  un- 
conscious sigh. 

"Uncle  Harry  is  entirely  private  spirited — • 
as  opposed  to  public  spirited,"  Sabra  explained. 
"He  gave  me  to-day  off  most  unwillingly.  If  I 
were  president  of  the  association,  I  could  not 
possibly  stay  in  his  office  and  barter  for  free 
time.  He  considers  me  a  crank.  Well,  perhaps 
I  am — to  want  to  work  for  unborn  generations 
rather  than  for  two  or  three  individuals  now. 
Only  we  must  remember  that  for  a  great  many 
years  my  father  was  considered  a  crank.  I 
want  you  to  look  at  it  quite  impartially  " 


THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS       5 

There  was  a  bare  second  for  the  girding  up 
of  tired  muscles ;  then  Mrs.  Gage  rose  to  it  like 
the  stanch  old  soldier  that  she  was. 

"If  you  feel  that  is  your  work,  Sabra,  we'll 
find  a  way,"  she  declared.  "The  children  of 
Sereno  Gage  are  not  going  to  be  kept  back  as 
he  was.  Shall  I  go  and  talk  to  your  Uncle 
Harry  about  it?" 

Sabra  was  finely  radiant,  as  though  already 
she  heard  the  clapping  hands  and  saw  the  up- 
turned faces.  "No,  dear  mother.  I  will  do  that 
myself  when  the  Congress  is  over.  I  don't 
want  anything  on  my  mind  to-day." 

"But,  Sabra,"  Chloe  broke  in,  "won't  the 
eugenics  people  pay  you  anything?"  She  spoke 
nervously,  like  one  who  knows  she  may  seem 
ignoble  but  is  too  worried  to  hide  it.  "You  see, 
I  pay  the  bills,  so  I  have  to  realize — " 

Sabra  raised  a  hand  for  silence.  "Not  to- 
day, little  sister,"  she  said  kindly.  "I  must  not 
think  of  anything  but  my  address.  But  will 
you,  as  a  great  favor,  run  over  to  Uncle  Harry's 
with  some  papers?  He  wants  them  this  morn- 
ing. You  can  easily  catch  him  before  he  leaves 
the  house." 


Chloe  stood  shadowed  and  silently  protesting, 
knowing  miserably  that  the  others  must  be 
right,  and  yet  rebelling  at  the  fresh  financial 
crisis  ahead.  Then,  seeing  her  mother  already 
alert  on  the  new  problem,  she  was  ashamed  of 
her  cowardice,  and  ran  off  with  the  papers. 

The  morning  was  fresh  and  lovely,  full  of 
good  promises.  As  she  passed  her  father's 
statue,  his  kind  quiet  seemed  to  fall  benignly 
on  her  heated  mood.  She  paused  to  lean  on  the 
iron  fence,  forgetting  her  errand. 

"You  didn't  bother  about  little  salaries,"  she 
admitted.  "That's  why  we  have  been  so  poor, 
of  course.  But  you  chose  right — oh,  there  isn't 
any  question  about  that!"  Ker  eyes  dimmed. 
"I'll  try,  my  dear,"  she  promised. 

"Well,  Chloe — burning  a  little  incense  at  the 
family  shrine?"  asked  a  dry  voice. 

"Oh,  Uncle  Harry!"  Chloe  had  turned 
affectionately  to  a  small,  middle-aged  gentle- 
man, whose  big,  white  head  was  set  so  close  to 
his  stubby  overcoat  that  he  suggested  a  love- 
bird, and  who  gave  her  a  shy,  limp  hand  as  he 
paused.  "I  was  just  going  to  you.  Sabra  sent 
you  these  papers." 


THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS      7 

"Oh,  thank  you.  Kind  of  her  to  remember 
it,  with  all  she's  got  on  her  mind."  He  seemed 
to  mean  just  what  he  said,  quite  simply. 
"Sabra's  pretty  busy  with  the  unborn  genera- 
tion," he  went  on,  his  mild  face  dropped  away 
from  her,  so  that  he  spoke  up  one  cheek.  "She 
has  a  fine  platform  presence,  I  hear.  Great 
gift,  that.  Your  father  spent  a  lot  of  time  on 
platforms,  but  he  just  got  up  there  anyhow,  so 
as  to  be  neard.  Saw  your  mother  yesterday. 
I  think  she  grows  taller  every  year — she's 
about  seven  feet  now.  Remarkable  woman, 
Chloe." 

"Isn't  she!"  Chloe  spoke  impulsively,  still 
moved  by  that  brave  girding  up  to  new 
struggle.  "She's  too  fine,  Uncle  Harry;  she 
does  too  much  for  others." 

"Yes,"  he  assented.  "She  tells  me  she  wants 
to  get  a  studio  for  Ralston  to  work  in,  away 
from  Billy.  Says  Billy's  no  respecter  of  ideas. 
Spoiled  a  fine  emotional  scene  the  other  day — ; 
bumped  his  head  and  roared.  Awfully  hard  on 
Ralston." 

Chloe  had  to  laugh.  "JVell,  it  is,"  she  in- 
sisted. 


8      JHE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS 

"Yes.  Ralston's  never  had  a  real  chance,  it 
seems.  Conditions  never  seem  exactly  right. 
When  my  Alex  wants  a  chance  to  work  out 
anything,  he  has  to  wait  till  Saturday  night, 
when  he  gets  home  from  the  office  fifteen 
minutes  earlier.  He's  got  up  rather  a  clever 
invention,  something  to  do  with  electricity — I 
don't  know.  But  it  goes.  He  can't  be  a  real 
genius,  though ;  he'll  work  anywhere." 

At  the  mention  of  Alex,  Chloe  had  visibly 
stiffened.  "He  isn't  nervous  like  Ralston,"  she 
said  after  a  pause. 

"Yes.  I  guess  Harvard  made  Rawly  nervous. 
Alex  was  shinning  up  electric  light  poles  about 
that  time;  I  suppose  that  steadied  his  nervous 
organization.  Let's  see,  who  put  Ralston 
through  college — old  Miss  Bowditch?  And  the 
Mortons  educated  Sabra.  And  you've  all  had 
Europe  and  violin  lessons  and  the  Grand  Canon 
of  the  Colorado."  He  sighed  aloud.  "I  ought  to 
have  died,  that's  what.  Great  mistake  to  live 
on  and  support  your  family.  My  children  don't 
get  Harvard  and  Bryn  Mawr  and  Europe,  I  can 
tell  you.  They  just  work,  poor  little  devils." 

Chloe  laughed  again.    "But  you  would  have 


THE  SEED  OF  THE  EIGHTEOUS      9 

to  have  died  famous.  It  is  because  we  are 
Sereno  Gage's  children  that  people  have  been 
glad  to  do  things  for  us." 

"Oh,  yes,"  he  admitted;  "but  they  mightn't 
have  known  just  how  glad  they  were  without 
your  mother.  She's  a  wonder,  that  woman. 
Queer,"  he  added,  looking  thoughtfully  up  at 
the  statue ;  "we  all  supposed  Reno  was  crazy.  I 
spent  twenty  years  explaining  to  people  that  he 
was  only  a  step-brother,  no  blood  connection. 
Then  I  spent  the  next  twenty  trying  to  make 
'em  believe  he  was  just  like  a  real  brother — > 
close  tie — devoted  from  childhood.  Most  of  my 
best  deals  have  gone  through  because  my 
mother  married  his  father.  That's  the  way 
things  go." 

Chloe  slipped  a  hand  under  his  arm.  "I  do 
like  you,"  she  confided.  "You're  so  under- 
standing. I  don't  believe  I  could  think  any- 
thing too  bad  to  tell  you." 

"Well,  that's  something,"  he  admitted,  be- 
ginning to  trudge  slowly  toward  his  car.  Chloe 
always  saw  him  as  trailing  a  broken  wing.  She 
walked  with  him  in  silence  for  a  few  moments, 
then  forced  a  stiff  little  sentence : 


10    THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS 

"I  am  glad  Alex  is  getting  on  so  well." 

He  gave  his  usual  dry  assent.  "Yes.  You 
two  haven't  made  it  up  yet,  have  you!"  he 
added  unexpectedly. 

"Oh,  we  are  perfectly  friendly  when  we 
meet."  Chloe  drew  her  hand  from  under  his 
arm.  "Now  I  must  run  home,  Uncle  Harry." 

She  crossed  the  street,  and  so  could  only  nod 
to  her  Cousin  Alex,  whom  she  passed  in  the 
next  block.  He  lifted  his  hat  without  smiling. 

"You're  wrong,  you're  wrong,  you're  wrong," 
Chloe  silently  flung  after  him.  "I  am  generally 
wrong,  but  in  this  one  case  I  was  right !" 

It  had  been  a  stupid,  unreasonable  break  be- 
tween them,  not  like  a  good,  healthy  quarrel. 
When,  last  autumn,  the  kind  Van  Dusens  had 
asked  Chloe  to  go  abroad  with  them,  it  had 
seemed  such  unmitigated  good  fortune.  Every 
one  had  met  it  as  she  did,  simply  and  with 
rejoicing,  until  she  told  Alex.  He  had  faced 
her  in  stiff-necked,  frowning  silence.  She  had 
seen  him  more  than  once  turn  that  look  on  her 
family,  and,  partly  understanding  it  by  her 
own  unrighteous  impulses,  had  tried  to  pass  on 
to  him  the  bigness  of  the  family  creed.  To 


THE  SEED  OF  THE  EIGHTEOUS     11 

meet  it  hurled  straight  at  herself  seemed  to 
open  a  dreadful  gulf  between  them. 

"Why  not,  Alex?"  she  insisted. 

"I  shouldn't  think  you  would  want  to  take 
it,"  he  said  shortly.  She  proved  to  him,  irre- 
futably, what  a  narrow  and  ungenerous  attitude 
that  was.  Alex  would  neither  argue  nor  relent. 
He  gave  her  to  understand,  without  quite  say- 
ing it,  that  if  she  went  she  lost  something  out 
of  his  friendship.  He  was  a  dictatorial  young 
man,  and  though  he  was  not  at  all  irritable, 
like  Ralston,  a  good  many  things  made  him 
angry.  Chloe,  of  course,  went;  and  had  the 
"perfectly  glorious"  time  that  youth  makes  a 
point  of  having  everywhere — brave,  pretentious 
youth,  with  its  thousand  hurts  and  humilia- 
tions so  vehemently  ignored!  And  Alex,  who 
did  nothing  by  halves,  had  wiped  out  every 
bond  between  them.  He  did  not  even  read 
Italian  with  her  any  more. 

Chloe  found  Mrs.  Gage  standing  strongly  in 
the  hall,  pulling  on  her  gloves  with  the  straight- 
armed  vigor  of  a  man  turning  up  his  sleeves  to 
fight. 

"Ralston  is  quite  right;  he  has  never  had  a 


12    THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS 

proper  chance,"  she  declared.  "I  have  been 
feeling  it  more  and  more.  If  he  hadn't  married 
right  after  college — but  you  couldn't  blame 
him,  with  all  that  encouragement.  I  have 
never  thought  it  was  right  of  Mr.  Sothern  to 
come  so  near  to  taking  his  play,  and  then  not 
take  it.  He  must  have  a  better  place  to  work." 

Chloe  had  come  to  a  dismayed  pause.  "But, 
mother,  what  can  you  do  about  it?"  she  asked, 
a  troubled  protest  in  her  voice. 

"Well,  there's  Mrs.  Cartaret  with  that  big, 
empty  house.  I  don't  see  why  Ralston  couldn't 
go  over  every  morning  and  have  a  quiet  room 
to  work  in.  He'd  be  no  trouble." 

Chloe  winced  bodily.  "But  suppose  she  does 
not  want  some  one  coming  in,  and  having  to 
stay  quiet  near  that  room — "  the  protest  fal- 
tered helplessly.  Her  family  always  made 
Chloe  feel  herself  poor-spirited,  even  mean. 

"Wouldn't  we  gladly  lend  her  a  room  if  we 
had  it?"  the  mother  demanded  from  her  chest. 
"If  there  is  any  reason  Mrs.  Cartaret  can't,  I'll 
try  the  Dows.  Only  Rawly  doesn't  like  them  so 
well.  He  says  Grace  Dow's  laugh  gets  on  his 
nerves."  She  gathered  her  skirt  into  her  hand, 


THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS     13 

symbolically,  since  it  Was  too  sensibly  short  to 
impede  her.  "If  you  want  to  go  off,  send  Billy 
over  to  play  with  the  little  Murrays,"  she 
added.  "Their  nurse  might  just  as  well  look 
after  four  as  three."  And  she  went  out  with 
her  direct  stride,  as  oblivious  of  her  aged, 
voluminous  suit  and  weather-beaten  bonnet  as 
some  gaunt  old  grenadier  might  be  of  his  faded 
uniform. 

Chloe  did  want  to  go  off.  She  was  often  a 
little  desperate  Monday  morning,  after  the 
family  Sunday.  The  others  were  so  much  older 
and  taller,  so  overpowering :  they  convicted  her 
eternally  of  being  in  the  wrong,  and  yet  she 
could  not  learn  to  be  like  them.  With  rueful 
humor  she  saw  herself  as  a  quaking  brown 
wren  among  eagles.  The  eagles  might  find  the 
wren  annoying;  but  it  was  the  wren  who  suf- 
fered, she  could  assure  them.  To-day  April 
was  stirring  in  the  city  squares  and  she  longed 
to  be  off  into  it  as  a  hot  forehead  longs  for  a 
cool  hand.  When  the  morning's  work  was 
done,  she  put  on  her  street  things  and  looked 
up  Billy. 

He  was  standing  at  an  open  window,  yearn- 


14     THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS 

ing  out  toward  a  vagrant  young  cur,  who 
wagged  up  at  him  from  the  sidewalk  beneath. 
His  broad  face  was  moist  with  tenderness. 

"A  li'l  parpy,  Toto,"  he  told  her,  as  one  point- 
ing out  a  divine  miracle.  "A  li'l  parpy — a  dee-ar 
li'l  parpy!"  No  mother  with  her  first-born 
could  have  expressed  a  richer  emotion;  the 
heart  of  his  grandfather,  who  had  loved  all 
young  things,  was  swelling  in  his  little  breast. 
Chloe  laughed,  but  she  put  on  his  clean  blouse 
there  at  the  window,  that  his  paternal  rapture 
need  not  be  interrupted. 

"We'll  go  and  see  the  li'l  kitty  at  the  Hur- 
rays'," she  said,  as  they  set  out  hand  in  hand. 

She  had  made  numberless  such  pilgrimages 
with  Billy  when  no  one  at  home  was  free  to 
look  after  him,  and  yet  they  always  depressed 
her.  Perhaps  it  was  the  association  with  the 
pilgrimages  of  her  own  childhood — little  brown 
Clotilda  trudging  in  silent,  helpless  reluctance 
between  long,  weedy,  impatient  Ralston  and 
handsome,  assured  Sabra.  She  could  still  hear 
Sabra's  confident,  "Mother's  compliments,  Mrs. 
Van  Dusen,  and  if  it  is  no  trouble,  may  Chloe 
spend  the  day  here,  because  we've  got  a  moth- 


THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS     15 

ers'  meeting  at  our  house?"  The  answer  was 
always  gracious,  and  yet  Chloe's  very  being 
would  seem  to  melt  with  shame  under  it — she 
was  so  sure  she  was  not  really  wanted.  She 
used  to  try  not  to  eat  much  lunch,  and  to  run  on 
her  tiptoes,  by  way  of  lessening  the  infliction. 
And  when  these  involuntary  hostesses  called 
her — as  they  often  did — a  "dear  little  soul,"  her 
quaint,  still  face  would  be  lit  from  within  by  a 
very  ecstasy  of  grateful  relief. 

Of  course,  later,  she  was  made  to  understand 
how  glad  people  were  to  be  neighborly  and  to 
help  one  another,  and  that  it  was  mean  to  sup- 
pose they  were  not.  Mrs.  Gage  certainly  lived 
up  to  her  creed.  Little  sisters  of  measles  and 
brothers  of  whooping-cough  spent  weeks  in 
their  crowded  home.  The  new  babies  of  her 
poorer  neighbors  never  lacked  flannel  and  soft 
cotton,  sturdily  collected  from  the  richer.  Mrs. 
Gage  could  not  see  a  kindness  as  too  much 
trouble — either  to  give  or  to  be  taken.  And  she 
never  forgot  that  the  children  of  Sereno  Gage 
had  a  heritage  of  rights. 

The  Murrays  had  a  fine  old  house  and,  at  one 
side,  a  walled  garden  that  should  have  grown 


16     THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS 

plants  of  solid  gold  to  balance  its  value  in  feet 
and  inches.  Chloe,  standing  at  the  wall  door, 
felt  the  same  old  reluctance  to  ring ;  but,  after 
she  had  forced  herself  to  do  it,  she  was  ashamed 
of  her  own  ungenerosity,  her  lack  of  faith.  The 
little  Murrays  greeted  Billy  with  joy,  and  their 
pleasant  Mary  assured  her  that  he  was  never 
any  trouble. 

"I  will  come  back  for  him  at  noon,"  she  said, 
and  went  happily  away. 

An  hour  up  in  the  green  park,  with  sun  and 
birds  and  opening  earth,  took  the  fever  out  of 
her.  Chloe  could  be  quite  exquisitely  happy 
when  she  could  get  away  from  the  clash  of  the 
family  ideal  on  her  own  tiresome  scruples  and 
sensitivenesses.  The  probable  loss  of  Sabra's 
earnings  had  at  first  troubled  her,  but  their 
mother  would  manage  someway.  She  always 
managed.  No  doubt  some  rich  old  admirer  of 
Sereno  Gage  would  be  glad  to  back  Sabra  in 
the  more  valuable  work.  People  never  tired  of 
paying  honor  to  Sereno  Gage.  The  father  who 
had  not  seen  her  was  Chloe's  secret  romance. 
;When  she  was  alone,  she  walked  with  her  hand 


LTHE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS     17 

in  his,  and  she  was  as  fluent  with  him  as  she 
was  silent  with  her  living  family.  He  would 
"have  understood  even  her  incurable  wrennish- 
ness. 

When  she  again  passed  the  wall  door,  Billy 
was  seated  on  the  gravel  nursing  a  sleeping  cat 
that  overflowed  him  on  either  side,  and  whose 
nap  must  not  be  disturbed,  so  Chloe,  with  small 
twitches  of  amusement  showing  through  her 
grave  consent,  sat  down  on  the  stone  bench 
against  the  house  to  await  the  cat's  pleasure.  It 
was  sweet  here,  with  grass  under  her  feet  and 
birds  chittering  in  the  house  vines,  little  figures 
trotting  about,  the  nurse  bending  over  the  baby 
carriage.  She  tipped  up  her  face  to  the 
streaming  sunlight,  the  April  scents  and  sounds, 
and  so  became  aware  of  voices  at  the  open 
window  just  over  her  head. 

"Who's  the  fourth  kid?"  It  was  an  elderly 
man  speaking,  and  he  said  the  word  "kid" 
pleasantly,  as  though  he  liked  little  fellows ;  and 
because  she  loved  to  hear  her  father's  name 
pronounced,  Chloe  stayed  still. 

"That  is  the  Sereno  Gage  grandchild ;"  Mrs. 


18    THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS 

Murray  spoke  with  a  note  of  laughter.  "He  is 
dumped  down  here  rather  often — you  know  the 
family  way !  But  Mary  doesn't  seem  to  mind." 

They  laughed  again  at  some  further  comment 
as  they  moved  away.  For  a  moment  Chloe  sat 
white  and  helpless  with  bewildered  pain.  Then 
terror  lest  Mrs.  Murray  might  come  into  the 
garden  made  her  start  up. 

"Come,  Billy;  come  home  at  once,"  she  com- 
manded, and  the  sleeping  cat  was  bundled  out 
with  a  horrifying  lack  of  respect.  Billy  was 
grieved,  but  dared  not  protest  to  this  wholly 
new  Toto.  At  the  wall  door  she  suddenly  left 
him  and  ran  back  to  Mary. 

"You  have  been  kind  and  good ;  I  shall  never 
forget  it,"  she  flung  at  the  surprised  woman. 

"Sure,  Billy's  no  trouble.  We  like  to  have 
him,"  said  Mary,  but  the  words  were  empty  to 
Chloe.  Had  not  Mrs.  Murray  said  the  same,  a 
hundred  times,  in  her  pretty,  lying  voice?  To 
get  away  and  fiercely,  punishingly  stay  away 
was  the  first  need.  Other  forms  of  resentment 
might  be  thought  out  later.  For,  curiously 
enough,  this  one  laughing  slight  had  done  for 
Chloe  what  years  of  teaching  had  not  been  able 


THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS     19 

to  accomplish:  it  had  made  her  one  with  her 
family.  All  the  way  home,  with  Billy  laboring 
to  keep  up,  she  hurled  at  Mrs.  Murray  her 
mother's  creed  of  kindness  and  neighborly  duty ; 
she  told  what  her  mother  had  done  for  humbler 
children,  she  pointed  to  her  father's  life,  given 
to  the  cause  of  all  children. 

"And  you  grudged  a  little  garden  space  to 
one  good  child !"  she  cried.  Not  till  she  opened 
her  own  door  was  she  aware  of  the  flushed,  anx- 
ious face  upturned  at  her  side.  "Oh,  my  dear  I" 
she  apologized. 

"Was  I  bad,  Toto?"  Billy  quavered. 

She  knelt  down  to  comfort.  "No,  Billy! 
Good  as  gold !  Only  grown  people  are  bad,"  she 
added  hotly. 

Chloe  did  not  dream  of  telling  what  had  hap- 
pened. She  covered  it  up  as  something  shame- 
ful, unrepeatable;  but  it  left  a  miserable  inse- 
curity. The  bogy  of  her  childhood,  explained 
away  by  wise  grown-ups,  was  suddenly  con- 
fronting her  again,  uglier  than  ever.  People 
did  not  really  want  you.  They  acted  as  if  they 
did,  but  their  hearts  were  reluctant. 

"It  was  only  one  person,"  she  told  herself. 


20    THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS 

"Mrs.  Murray  isn't  everybody !"  But  the  bogy 
had  gained  standing:  it  could  no  longer  be 
swept  aside  as  a  little  girl's  stupidity. 

The  house  grew  very  quiet  that  afternoon. 
Mrs.  Gage  and  Sabra  were  at  the  Congress  and 
Ralston  had  taken  Billy  up  to  the  zoo.  When 
Ralston's  work  had  gone  well  he  had  a  romantic 
impulse  toward  excursions  with  his  little  son. 
Both  always  came  back  on  the  verge  of  tears, 
but  they  set  out  just  as  happily  the  next  time. 
Chloe  worked  for  faithful  hours  on  the  tasks 
that  fall  naturally  to  the  untalented  member  of 
a  family,  then,  drooping  bodily,  she  went  out 
to  sit  on  the  door-step  in  the  soft  new-born 
warmth  of  the  day.  People  still  sat  on  door- 
steps in  that  informal  old  corner  of  the  city. 

Chloe  at  twenty  had  not  yet  lost  the  quality 
that  had  named  her  a  "dear  little  soul."  Per- 
haps it  lay  in  an  innocent  readiness  to  believe 
that  others  were  great  and  good  and  that  she 
must  learn  of  them :  or  perhaps  it  came  from 
the  delicate,  pointed,  quaintly  secular  face  of 
the  left-hand  angel  in  Botticelli's  Madonna 
Enthroned,  at  which  Mrs.  Gage  had  gazed  with 
faithful  purpose  for  months  before  her  daugh- 


THE  SEED  Q3  THE  RIGHTEOUS    21 

ter's  birth.  She  had  hoped  for  some  soaring 
spirituality  of  a  tough-winged  kind  that  should 
make  a  stir  in  the  world,  but  was  perfectly  con- 
tent with  the  simpler  result  that  Chloe  did  act- 
ually look  like  the  angel  on  the  extreme  left. 
The  family  was  inclined  to  take  the  resemblance 
humorously.  "Pity  mother  wished  the  figure 
on  her,  too,"  Ralston  often  said  in  deprecation 
of  his  sister's  almost  boyish  slenderness.  The 
constant  presence  of  her  secret  companion  had 
given  her  face  an  upward  tilt  that  might  well 
have  been  taken  from  an  angel.  Seeing  her  so, 
a  young  man  who  had  been  coming  down  the 
block  hesitatingly,  as  though  some  argument 
blocked  his  path,  leaped  the  obstacle  and  started 
forward. 

"Well,  Chloe,"  he  said.  He  had  taken  a 
humble  attitude,  hat  off,  but  a  smile  lurked  in 
the  lively  blue  eyes  and  under  the  brief 
mustache  that  only  just  was  not  red. 

"Well,  Alex,"  she  returned,  with  discourag- 
ing coolness. 

"I  have  been  thinking  about  you  all  day,"  he 
persisted,  putting  out  his  hand.  "We  have  been 
such  good  friends,  Chloe;  it  is  stupid  to  let  it 


22     THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS 

go.  Truly,  I've  missed  you  like  the  dickens. 
Can't  I  come  back?" 

She  took  his  hand,  but  provisionally.  "You 
are  not  saying  anything  about  having  been  in 
the  wrong,"  she  observed,  fixing  him  with  an 
unfooled  eye.  It  was  her  belief  that  Alex  had 
found  girls  altogether  too  pliant  for  his  own 
good. 

He  avoided  that  issue.  "I  was  all  in  the 
wrong  to  lay  down  the  law  for  some  one  else," 
he  said,  taking  a  seat  below  her  and  looking  up 
with  a  friendliness  that  few  ever  resisted.  It 
was  a  vital,  colorful  face,  and  perhaps  Alex  had 
discovered  its  power,  for  he  lounged  very  com- 
fortably, and  his  smile  did  not  bear  out  the  anx- 
iety of  his  words.  "Couldn't  you  forgive  me 
enough  to  go  on  with  our  Italian?  Haven't  you 
missed  me  at  all,  Toto?" 

Chloe  maintained  a  detached  air  of  looking 
him  over.  "I  have  been  reading  a  good  deal  of 
French,"  was  all  she  said,  and  Alex,  recogniz- 
ing that  the  lost  territory  was  not  to  be  in- 
stantly regained  by  the  expenditure  of  a  little 
charm,  sat  up  and  went  honestly  to  work  for  it. 


THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS    23 

They  were  still  visiting  there  on  the  steps  when 
Mrs.  Gage,  worn,  dusty,  triumphant,  came 
marching  home. 

"Oh,  Alex !"  she  greeted  him  with  her  hearty 
kindness.  "Why,  we  haven't  seen  you  lately, 
have  we?  I  suppose  you  have  been  too  busy 
with  your  invention.  Your  father  spoke  about 
it  yesterday.  Don't  stand  up,  dear  children ;  I'll 
sit  down  here  and  tell  you  about  the  Congress." 
She  took  the  top  step,  unfastening  her  ancient, 
black  silk  wrap.  "I  know  my  bonnet  is  crooked, 
Chloe.  It  was  a  wonderful  afternoon;  I  wish 
you  could  have  been  there.  Alex,  did  you 
realize  that  some  big  proportion  of  the  blind- 
ness of  the  world — seven-eighths  or  something 
like  that — is  entirely  preventable?  Sabra  was 
fine ;  so  dignified  and  handsome.  I  did  wish  her 
father  could  have  seen  her.  The  chairman  who 
introduced  her  paid  him  a  beautiful  tribute. 
Something  about  the  mantle  of  the  father  de- 
scending to  the  child.  They  clapped  her  more 
than  any  one.  Of  course,  Alex,  you  understand 
that  defectives  ought  not  to  have  children — 
any  one  can  see  that.  I  never  remember  figures, 


24    THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS 


but  the  proportion  of  defective  parents  is  ap- 
palling— something  like  seven-tenths.  Sabra  is 
going  to  get  a  law  passed  against  it." 

Alex  was  listening  with  resistance  in  every 
line  of  his  vigorous  body.  His  frown  seemed  to 
include  Sabra  and  the  audience  and  eugenics  in 
one  sweeping  disapproval,  kept  down  by  sheer 
muscular  force. 

"It  is  easy  enough  to  pass  laws,"  he  said 
dryly. 

"Oh,  it  is  not  easy  at  all,"  she  assured  him. 
"They  have  to  know  all  the  congressmen  in- 
dividually. They  send  clever  delegates  to  some 
and  pretty  ones  to  others — it  takes  a  great  deal 
of  tact.  Sabra  has  been  to  Albany  any  number 
of  times." 

Alex  gave  a  short  laugh.  "As  brains  or  as 
beauty?" 

"They  want  Sabra  for  both,"  said  Sabra's 
mother.  "I  saw  old  Mr.  Lindsley  there  and  had 
a  talk  with  him  about  her  career.  I  shouldn't 
wonder  if  something  came  of  it."  She  was  full 
of  weary  satisfaction.  Chloe,  reading  Alex's 
expression,  moved  closer  to  her  side. 

"Mother  works  for  other  people  morning, 


"Oh,   it  is   not  easy  at   all,"  she  assured  him 


THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS    25 

noon  and  night,"  she  said,  looking  straight  into 
his  stiff-necked  frown.  Alex,  rebuked,  amended 
his  expression,  but  would  give  no  sign  of  chang- 
ing his  opinion.  Mrs.  Gage,  simply  pleased, 
patted  her  daughter's  hand. 

"Every  one  does,  dear,  more  or  less,"  she  said. 
"Some  day,  Alex,  when  I  am  not  so  tired,  you 
must  tell  me  about  your  invention.  I  might  be 
able  to  interest  some  one  in  it." 

"Oh,  thanks — I  don't  want  any  help;"  Alex 
spoke  shortly.  "Father  shouldn't  tell  my 
secrets." 

"My  dear  Alex,  the  more  who  know,  the  bet- 
ter. You  never  can  tell  which  way  help  will 
come,"  she  assured  him  with  large,  kind  cer- 
tainty. "I  know  so  many  influential  people. 
And  they  would  be  interested  for  your  uncle's 
sake.  The  world  doesn't  forget  what  it  owes  to 
Sereno  Gage." 

"Aunt  Emily,  you  are  very  kind ;"  Alex  gave 
an  effect  of  biting  off  the  words ;  "but  I  am  not 
looking  for  any  one  to  push  or  pull  me  along." 

"That  is  foolish ;"  she  spoke  with  perfect  good 
humor.  "Where  would  my  children  be  if  I 
hadn't  found  ways  to  give  them  a  chance?" 


26     THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS 

Alex  started  to  answer,  then,  seeing  Chloe's 
fingers  twisting  nervously  together,  thought 
better  of  it.  "Well,  I  have  a  feeling  for  work- 
ing things  out  myself,"  he  said,  rising.  "Good 
night — I  must  run."  He  left  with  unfriendly 
abruptness.  His  squared  shoulders  had  a  fight- 
ing quality  as  he  strode  away. 

"I  never  supposed  Alex  would  turn  out  so 
good-looking,"  said  Mrs.  Gage.  "A  little  stocky, 
perhaps,  but  a  nice  face.  I  am  glad  for  your 
Uncle  Harry  if  he  is  going  to  be  clever.  His 
children  haven't  had  much  chance.  I  hope  I 
can  do  something  for  Alex — a  word  here  and 
there." 

Chloe  took  breath  to  speak,  then  let  it  go 
again.  Mrs.  Gage  was  gathering  herself  up. 

"Oh,  I  got  Rawley  a  fine  place  to  work  this 
morning,"  she  added,  as  she  straightened  a 
tired  back.  "The  old  billiard  room  at  the  top  of 
the  house.  Mrs.  Cartaret  was  delighted  to  have 
it  used.  Coming  in,  dear?" 

Chloe  looked  after  her  mother  with  loving, 
troubled  eyes. 

"People  ought  not  to  keep  getting  angry,  any- 


THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS    27 

way,"  she  said  at  last,  glad  of  on6  certainty  in 
a  world  of  shifting  values. 

The  next  morning  Ralston  set  out  for  his  new 
workroom  in  high  excitement.  His  sensitive 
face,  usually  so  somber,  looked  boyish  in  its 
hopefulness. 

"It  is  my  first  real  chance,"  he  told  his 
mother,  solemn  for  all  those  lost  years.  He  even 
allowed  Billy  to  walk  to  the  corner  with  him. 

The  statue  of  Sereno  Gage  greeted  them  with 
grave  kindness.  Billy,  who  supposed  that  this 
actually  was  his  grandfather  and  loved  him 
dearly,  ran  to  thrust  his  face  between  the  iron 
palings  and  shout  good  morning,  with  some 
further  news  concerning  a  li'l  parpy.  Ralston 
looked  up  at  it  with  self-absorbed  eyes. 

"Someday  they  may  call  that  Ralston  Gage's 
father,"  he  said,  and  laughed  a  little,  then  sent 
Billy  home  and  hurried  on. 

A  few  moments  later,  on  her  way  to  the  office, 
Sabra  passed  the  patient  figure.  Sabra  could 
remember  how  the  pennies  had  poured  in  from 
all  over  the  country — warm  from  the  little  tight 


28    THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS 

fists  of  the  givers — to  set  up  this  monument  to 
the  children's  friend.  Perhaps  the  chief  lesson 
she  had  derived  from  the  memory  was  that 
money  was  very  easily  raised.  To-day  her  eyes 
still  saw  upturned  faces,  her  ears  echoed  ap- 
plause. 

"I  shall  not  be  unworthy  of  your  name,  my 
father,"  she  promised,  and  went  to  the  day's 
work  as  one  might  take  up  a  temporary  dis- 
guise, worn  for  high  political  purposes. 

Presently  Mrs.  Gage  came  past,  her  driving 
soul  blocks  ahead  of  her  ignored  body.  She 
would  not  have  known  where  she  was  if  a 
humble  neighbor  had  not  stopped  her  with  a 
piece  of  news. 

"Why,  Katy— Mrs.  Sexton  dead !"  Mrs.  Gage 
had  to  hear  more  before  she  could  adjust  to  the 
shock.  The  woman's  eyes  were  red  with  weep- 
ing. "Of  course  you  are  going  up  there,  Katy, 
to  help.  I  am  glad  they  have  you,"  she  said  at 
parting,  then  turned  back  to  add:  "Marjorie 
Sexton  is  just  about  my  Chloe's  build.  I  sup- 
pose she  will  be  giving  away  all  sorts  of  pretty 
dresses  if  she  goes  into  mourning." 

"Yes,  m'am.    I'll  be  glad  to  drop  a  word 


THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS     29 

about  it — you've  been  that  good  to  me,"  Katy 
promised.  Mrs.  Gage,  collecting  her  scattered 
purposes,  lifted  unseeing  eyes  to  her  husband's 
face. 

"I  wish  there  had  been  some  one  about 
Sabra's  size,"  she  said  as  she  went  on. 

An  hour  later  Chloe  came  on  her  way  to 
market,  Billy  at  her  side.  They  stood  looking 
up  together. 

"Tell  about  the  li'l  chil'ren  in  the  fractory," 
Billy  commanded. 

Chloe  exchanged  smiles  with  her  father,  and 
then  the  two  went  on  to  the  beloved  story  of 
little  children  oppressed  and  rescued,  and  of 
laws  that  had  had  to  fight  their  way  like  ban- 
ners up  a  battle  hill.  She  did  not  dream  that 
she  at  that  moment  was  handing  on  the  emblem 
Sereno  Gage  had  carried. 


CHAPTER  II 

NO  TWO  years  were  ever  alike  in  Chloe's 
family.  Simply  to  be  in  Mrs.  Gage's  orbit 
meant  endless  change  and  opportunity.  Some- 
times a  fortunate  conjunction  lent  them  a  tem- 
porary brilliancy;  sometimes  they  hovered  on 
the  verge  of  black  eclipse.  In  these  darker 
times  Ealston  always  offered  to  give  up  his. 
writing  and  go  into  an  office. 

"I'd  last  about  two  years  in  office  life,  but  I 
am  perfectly  ready  to  do  it,"  he  would  say,  a 
sad  beauty  in  his  narrow,  boy-poet  face  that 
moved  his  mother  to  inspired  marvels  of  con- 
triving. Water  out  of  barren  rock  was  no  more 
miraculous  than  the  resources  called  up  by  her 
stanch  old  courage. 

This  year  promised  to  be  a  brilliant  one.  The 
talk  about  Sabra's  career,  briskly  followed  up, 
led  straight  to  good  fortune.  Sabra  had  had 
some  difficulty  in  fixing  on  her  Cause.  She  had 
known,  ever  since  the  pennies  had  poured  in  to 

30 


THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS     31 

build  a  monument  to  Sereno  Gage,  that  she  was 
destined  to  nail  herself,  body  and  soul,  to  some 
high  purpose;  the  trouble  had  been  to  find  a 
purpose  entirely  suitable.  She  had  felt  the  Suf- 
frage platform  too  crowded  to  give  her  room; 
New  Thought  drew  too  limited  an  audience; 
Child  Labor  had  passed  its  need  of  brilliant  pio- 
neers. Not  till  chance  took  her  to  the  first 
feeble,  shy  meeting  of  the  Eugenics  Society  did 
she  see  her  way  clear.  This  new  subject  must 
be  handled  with  delicacy  and  distinction,  it 
carried  on  her  family  tradition  of  working  for 
the  child;  here  was  her  Cause.  She  had  come 
home  that  night  breathing  deep,  carrying  high 
the  chest  in  which  her  future  was  cradled.  Her 
father's  statue,  clear  black  and  soft  gray  in  the 
moonlight,  seemed  to  stand  uncovered  before 
Jier. 

"This  is  the  night  of  my  real  birth,"  she  told 
him.  And  poor  Sereno  Gage,  who  had  known 
nothing  of  Causes,  who  had  only  so  loved  and 
suffered  over  little  children  that  he  had  had  to 
spend  his  life  on  them,  kept  humble  silence  as 
his  glorious  progeny  passed. 

The  Society  and  Sabra's  fame  had  come  up 


32    THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS 

together,  rapidly  and  simultaneously.  Both 
would  go  faster  yet  when  she  had  rid  herself 
of  wage-earning,  left  all  to  follow.  Sabra  was 
a  good  girl :  no  one  ever  saw  her  unjust  or  im- 
patient or  afraid  of  life;  what  she  earned  she 
gave  with  open  hands  to  her  family ;  and  when 
she  saw  a  hard  duty  ahead,  she  went  at  it  with 
single-minded  zeal.  The  day  after  the  Con- 
gress she  sent  in  her  card  to  Mr.  Harper  Linds- 
ley,  millionaire,  philanthropist  and  life-long 
friend  of  her  father. 

The  old  man  gave  her  a  tremulous  hand  and 
a  twinkling  smile. 

"Well,  Sabra !  I  had  a  talk  with  your  mother 
yesterday,"  he  greeted  her.  "I  rather  thought 
one  of  you  might  be  in  to-day."  It  was  a  be- 
ginning to  disconcert  a  feebler  spirit;  but  Sa- 
bra rose  to  it  with  splendid  assurance. 

"Then  you  know  why  I  am  here,"  she  said. 

He  was,  after  all,  less  valiant  than  she.  "Oh, 
well,  not  quite  that,"  he  hedged.  "Very  glad 
|to  see  you.  Sit  down.  How's  Billy?" 

Sabra  could  not  be  put  off  with  questions. 
She  took  the  proffered  chair,  leaning  earnestly 
toward  him. 


THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS     33 

"Mr.  Lindsley,  I  want  you  to  make  me  one  of 
your  salaried  officials — 'with  power/  as  we  say 
of  committees,"  she  began.  "I  believe  my  fa- 
ther's child  can  do  something  bigger  in  the 
world  than  wage-earning;  but  I  need  backing. 
Will  you  give  me  a  chance  to  make  myself  clear 
to  you?" 

The  frail  old  hands  warded  her  off  with  hu- 
morous protest.  "No,  no,  child.  If  I  listen 
you'll  convince  me.  I  heard  you  yesterday. 
Lord,  you  ought  to  be  in  the  United  States  Sen- 
ate !  And  you  would  have  been,  if  you  and  your 
mother  had  only  been  men.  What  a  power  she 
would  have  been  in  the  ward!"  He  wanted  to 
linger  and  chuckle  over  the  idea,  but  Sabra 
pushed  straight  on. 

"Why  shouldn't  you  be  convinced?" 

"No,  no,"  he  sighed,  lifting  a  hand  to  his 
breast  pocket.  "I'd  rather  do  it  kicking  and 
scratching.  How  much  do  you  want?" 

She  told  him  what  her  salary  had  been,  scru- 
pulous to  ask  no  more,  and  then,  while  he  con- 
sidered, seized  her  chance  to  set  forth  to  him 
all  that  her  Society  stood  for.  He  listened  with 
aged  indulgence,  crossed  by  an  occasional 


34    THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS 

flicker  of  amusement.  At  the  end  he  slowly 
nodded. 

"I  sort  of  like  you,  Sabra.  I  believe  I'll  do 
it,"  he  said.  "A  man  of  my  age  can  afford  his 
little  joke  now  and  then."  He  touched  a  bell, 
and  her  happy  ears  heard  him  dictate  the 
memorandum  to  his  secretary.  When  they 
were  again  alone,  she  took  his  hand  in  both 
hers. 

"I  thank  you  now,"  she  said,  "but  I  want  you 
to  believe  that  your  real  thanks  will  come  from 
the  future."  His  smile  was  subtle  but  not  un- 
kindly. 

"Well,  if  there  has  got  to  be  more  talk  in  the 
world,  you're  the  one  to  do  it,"  he  admitted. 

Sabra  went  home  to  lunch,  riding  her  good 
news  like  a  palfry.  The  dining-room  door 
opened  on  a  group  dismally  familiar  in  that 
household.  Ralston,  who  had  gone  off  so  ra- 
diantly that  morning  to  dwell  in  unbroken  com- 
munion with  his  talent,  sat  remote,  blank, 
tragic  with  some  unexplained  disappointment. 
His  mother,  guilty  for  she  knew  not  what, 
watched  him  with  faithful,  asking  eyes  and 
tried  to  keep  her  distress  silent.  Billy's  feel- 


THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS     35 

ings  had  been  hurt  early  in  the  meal  and  Chloe 
had  removed  him  to  the  kitchen,  where  she  waa 
comforting  him  with  abundant  jam. 

"Mother — everybody !"  Sabra's  voice  brought 
Chloe  to  the  door.  "It  has  come.  I  am  free  for 
my  real  work.  I  have  been  to  see  Mr.  Linds- 
ley." 

"My  dear!"  Mrs.  Gage  was  martial  leader 
and  tender  mother  in  one.  "What  did  he  say?" 

"You  had  prepared  the  way  for  me,  mother, 
dear,  so  my  part  was  comparatively  easy."  Sa- 
bra  always  distributed  scrupulous  credit,  which 
was  one  source  of  her  success  as  an  organizer. 
"I  scarcely  had  to  explain.  It  was,  'How  much 
do  you  want?'  almost  the  first  moment." 

"That  was  from  hearing  you  yesterday,  Sa- 
bra.  You  never  spoke  better." 

She  nodded  assent.  "He  thinks  I  have  a 
great  gift  for  speaking.  He  said  that  as  a  man 
I  would  have  been  a  political  power." 

"Fine,  dear!    What  else?" 

Sabra's  clear,  candid  gaze  was  turned  back 
on  the  interview.  "He  intimated  that  I  was 
convincing;  that  people  would  be  swayed  by 
me.  His  last  words  were  about  public  speak- 


36     THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS 

ing — 'You're  the  one  to  do  it/  "  he  said.  "It  was 
very  gratifying."  And  Sabra  sat  down  to 
lunch  with  an  aura  of  success  shining  visibly 
about  her.  Chloe  lingered  dejectedly  in  the 
doorway,  measuring  her  shrinking  self  against 
her  fine,  brave  sister.  A  bitter  word  finally 
broke  from  Ralston. 

"You  get  your  chance.  Everybody  but  me 
gets  a  real  chance,  sooner  or  later." 

Mrs.  Gage  seized  the  opening.  "Wasn't  the 
room  quiet,  dear?" 

"Very,  thank  you."  He  tried  to  continue  his 
magnanimous  silence,  but  the  grievance  would 
but.  "I  should  think  you  would  have  seen  that 
there  was  no  heat  in  that  room,  mother!  Nei- 
ther heat  nor  sun.  I  nearly  perished.  I  shall 
have  to  give  it  up." 

"But  there  was  a  fireplace,"  his  mother  cried. 

"There  was ;  but  no  fire  in  it.  And  I  couldn't 
very  well  ring  for  one  in  Mrs.  Cartaret's  house, 
could  I?" 

Mrs.  Gage  was  alight  with  relief.  "Why,  she 
would  love  to  have  a  fire  for  you — I  know  it. 
Any  one  would.  Leave  it  to  me — don't  worry, 


THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS    37 

dear  boy.  I  will  see  that  you  are  comfortable." 
And  in  the  general  clearing  of  her  sky  she 
turned  back  to  the  lunch  that  she  had  been  un- 
able to  eat.  Ralston,  too,  was  presently  up 
again,  borne  on  her  buoyant  faith.  Chloe  car- 
ried a  sober  droop  back  to  the  kitchen.  She 
was  all  wrong,  of  course;  but  she  would  have 
died  rather  than  ask  for  that  fire. 

Mrs.  Gage  called  on  Mrs.  Cartaret  that  aft- 
ernoon, and  the  next  morning  Ralston  found  a 
cheerful  blaze  awaiting  him.  Mrs.  Cartaret 
was  so  concerned  for  his  comfort  that  she  her- 
self came  up  at  noon  to  see  that  the  fire  was 
going  properly.  She  was  a  widow  whose  only 
child  had  married,  a  graceful,  still  woman  not 
yet  fifty,  with  an  emotional  love  of  beauty  and 
a  remote  smile  that  never  deepened  into  a 
laugh.  A  knock  on  his  door  before  he  had  vol- 
untarily opened  it  usually  made  Ralston  mur- 
derous; but  there  was  always  something  fra- 
grant and  distinguished  about  this  dark-eyed 
woman  in  her  silky  black  that  soothed  his 
rasped  sensibilities  and  touched  his  mood  with 
knightliness.  She  wasn't  modern  or  humorous, 


88    THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS 

thank  God!  One  could  be  gentleman  to  her 
lady.  He  begged  her  to  come  in.  It  was  an 
added  charm  that  she  should  be  a  little  shy. 

"Come  in  and  see  how  perfect  it  is,"  he  urged. 
"Sit  in  my  chair  and  see  if  you  don't  at  once 
begin  to  write  a  masterpiece." 

She  sat  there,  erect  and  hesitating,  letting 
her  lovely  smile  come  slowly  out.  "It  must  be 
so  wonderful  to  write,"  she  said.  "I  have  al- 
ways longed  to.  Tell  me  how  you  go  about  it. 
Do  you  get  the  idea  first,  before  you  write  a 
word?" 

To  Ralston,  who  had  not  yet  acquired  a  pub- 
lic, the  question  was  fresh  and  stimulating.  He 
talked  at  length  about  his  methods,  pacing  up 
and  down  as  he  grew  excited,  or  standing  over 
her  with  hair  touchingly  rumpled  and  long  fin- 
gers pointing  his  meaning.  Her  listening  had 
the  perfection  that  he  found  in  all  her  ways. 

"How  did  you  first  know  that  you  had  this 
gift?"  she  asked  him.  And  "How  do  you  get 
your  idea— does  it  simply  come?"  And  "Do  you 
take  your  people  from  life  or  do  you  make  them 
up?"  Ralston  grew  flushed  and  brilliant-eyed. 


THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS     39 

An  hour  slipped  past.  At  last  a  servant  hov- 
ered in  the  doorway,  murmured  and  went  away. 
"I  am  keeping  you,"  he  exclaimed.  "But  if 
you  knew  what  it  meant  to  talk  to  some  one 
who  understands  and  cares!  I  can't  usually 
talk  to  any  one.  I  am  the  loneliest  man  in  the 
city,  Mrs.  Cartaret." 

"But  why  should  you  be  lonely?"  Her  won- 
der said :  "You  who  have  youth  and  beauty  and 
talent,"  and  personal  vanity  might  have 
preened  itself;  but  Ralston  had  been  spared 
that. 

"People  don't  like  me,"  he  said,  simply  and 
seriously.  Her  incredulous  smile  would  have 
made  a  joke  of  it,  but  he  shook  his  head.  "No 
— truly.  I  don't  laugh  enough,  I  suppose. 
Good  God,  I  don't  want  to  laugh — life  doesn't 
seem  to  me  funny !  I  am  sick  to  death  of  this 
modern  cult  of  humor." 

The  audacity  of  that  took  her  breath. 
"Doesn't  one  have  to  have  it?"  she  asked,  a 
touching  hope  lighting  her  gentle  face. 

"No !"  He  almost  shouted  it.  "Let  it  alone. 
That  is  what  makes  you  so  beautiful.  One  is 


40    THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS 

safe  with  you,  one  is  at  home."  He  took  her 
hand.  "You  will  come  up  again?  Please  prom- 
ise you  will!"  He  was  so  eager,  so  boyish  in 
spite  of  his  thirty  years,  that  he  could  not  quite 
be  left  so.  She  hesitated,  colored  a  little,  and 
asked  him  if  he  would  not  come  down  and  have 
luncheon  with  her.  He  came,  openly  happy. 
The  handsome  room,  the  skilled  service,  the 
graceful,  listening  woman,  lapped  him  in  well- 
being. 

"One  is  at  home  in  your  house,  too,"  he  told 
her.  "I  have  never  had  a  home  like  this,  and 
yet  I  always  feel  like  an  exile — as  if  I  had  once 
lived  where  everything  was  beautiful  and  har- 
monious. That  would  have  made  all  the  dif- 
ference in  my  career."  Self-pity  almost 
brought  tears  to  his  eyes.  "I  have  never  had  a 
fair  chance,  Mrs.  Cartaret.  Or  any  real  help. 
And  talent  has  to  be  helped,  doesn't  it?  Look 
at  Wagner.  My  play  was  published,  you  know 
< — the  one  that  Sothern  nearly  took;  an  old 
friend  of  the  family  put  up  the  money  for  it. 
But  he  would  not  go  on  and  really  push  it,  he 
hadn't  the  courage  to  advertise  effectively,  so 
of  course  it  didn't  sell.  It  has  always  been  like 


THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS    41 

that.  People  do  a  little  for  one,  and  then  they 
lose  heart  and  drop  away.  No  one  has  the  big, 
high  faith  that  sees  it  through."  A  querulous 
bitterness  rose  from  his  unhealing  grievance. 
"They  are  all  quitters !"  he  cried. 

She  was  troubled,  apologetic  for  the  faint- 
heartedness of  benefactors,  a  class  to  which  she 
belonged.  "I  wish  you  would  tell  me  about  the 
play  you  are  at  work  on,"  she  ventured.  "Not 
unless  you  feel  like  it,  of  course,"  she  added, 
disconcerted  by  the  intentness  of  his  stare.  But 
Ralston  was  only  making  a  discovery. 

"Some  day  I  shall  read  it  to  you,"  he  declared 
solemnly.  "It  is  all  there  is  of  me.  I  have  fed 
myself  to  it,  body  and  soul,  for  two  years,  and 
no  one  has  seen  a  line  of  it.  But  I  shall  want 
to  read  it  to  you.  Will  you  let  me?" 

She  had  no  words  to  express  her  gratification 
and  flushed  delicately  in  the  eifort  to  find  them. 
She,  too,  perhaps,  in  her  big  house,  was  lonely. 

So  Mrs.  Gage's  two  geniuses  were  launched. 
As  if  that  were  not  enough,  at  the  same  time 
she  happened  on  a  struggling  Montessori  class, 
embraced  the  doctrines  fervently  after  twenty 
minutes  of  elucidation,  brought  in  half  a  dozen 


42    THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS 

pupils,  and  so  "arranged"  to  have  Billy  in- 
cluded. And  while  Chloe  still  gazed  dubiously 
at  her  new  freedom,  half  sorry,  yet  excited,  into 
her  lap  fell  a  soft  armful  of  fine  clothes,  sent 
with  Marjorie  Sexton's  love  in  a  sad,  black 
bordered  note.  Uncle  Harry  came  in  while 
these  were  still  spread  over  sofa  and  chair, 
and  Chloe,  seated  on  a  foot-stool  before  them, 
her  chin  on  her  clasped  hands,  stared  at  them 
in  tranced  rapture.  She  had  had  every  one  of 
them  on  with  no  one  home  to  see,  and  she 
sprang  up  joyfully  at  her  uncle's  trailing  step. 

"Oh,  Uncle  Harry,  look  what  I've  got!"  she 
cried.  "Marjorie  Sexton,  you  know.  Her 
mother  has  just — she's  gone  into  mourning, 
poor  girl.  She  sent  all  these — and  I  have  hardly 
seen  her  since  school.  Wasn't  it  too  beautiful  ?" 

Uncle  Harry's  dry,  averted  speech  had  never 
been  milder:  "H'm — your  mother  dropped  in 
at  the  funeral,  I  suppose." 

"Oh,  yes."  Chloe  took  it  quite  simply. 
"Mother's  strong  on  funerals." 

His  slow  nod  seemed  to  approve.  "Yes ;  you 
can't  tell  what  they  may  lead  to — in  this  world 
or  the  next."  He  fingered  a  fold  of  crepe  as  a 


THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS     4J 

foreigner  might  try  over  an  unknown  word, 
"How  are  you  going  to  live  up  to  all  this?" 

"Oh,  I  suppose  mother  will  conjure  up  some 
parties.  There's  one  to-night,  Uncle  Harry." 
She  flushed  a  little,  and  her  eyes  forbade  him 
to  be  humorous.  "Alex  is  taking  me  to  the 
theater." 

Uncle  Harry  never  looked  at  any  one,  but  he 
seemed  to  feel  her  glance.  "Yes;  so  he  said," 
he  admitted  carefully.  Chloe  was  eager  to 
explain. 

"I  haven't  taken  him  all  back,  Uncle  Harry ; 
I  mean,  he  hasn't  found  me  easy !  He's  walk- 
ing a  chalk  line."  She  was  very  anxious  that 
he  should  understand  that.  "I  don't  intend  to 
be  quite  the  same  until  he  really  sees  how 
wrong-headed  he  was.  He  can't  just  smooth 
things  over  and  get  his  own  way  with  me." 

"Glad  to  hear  it.  Keep  it  up."  Uncle  Harry 
relinquished  the  finery  and  sat  down,  his  hands 
folded  over  the  top  of  his  umbrella,  his  head 
dropped  so  that  his  speech  came  sidewise.  "I've 
got  a  proposition  to  make  to  you,  Chloe." 

She  would  have  liked  to  dwell  longer  on  the 
Jpowns,  but  compromised  by  taking  a  brown 


44    THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS 

chiffon  into  her  arms  and  nursing  it  lovingly 
as  she  returned  to  her  stool. 

"What  is  it?"  she  asked,  dipping  an  arm  into 
a  lace  sleeve,  then  hastily  taking  it  out  again. 
"I'm  listening,  Uncle  Harry — go  on." 

"Want  a  job?"  he  asked. 

She  laughed.    "What  kind  ?" 

"Well,  you  see,  Sabra  has  left  me.  She's  go- 
ing to  talk  for  her  living  after  this.  That's  all 
right — Sabra's  a  grand  talker.  I  wouldn't 
bother  with  real  estate  if  I  could  get  a  living 
off  a  platform  and  a  pitcher  of  ice-water.  And 
Billy's  been  launched,  I  hear:  learning  to  fol- 
low his  instincts  and  distinguish  velvet  from 
sandpaper  by  the  touch.  Well,  that's  all  right, 
too.  He'll  need  all  the  touch  he  can  develop. 
But  why  don't  you  come  down  to  the  office  and 
learn  how  to  rent  apartments?  Nice,  pleasant 
work — girl's  work.  A  girl  can't  look  at  the 
plan  of  an  apartment  without  wishing  she 
could  go  to  housekeeping  in  it;  and  that's 
catching.  You'd  be  earning  a  salary  and  get- 
ting a  business  training.  What  do  you  say?" 

Chloe  only  laughed.    "Oh,  no,  Uncle  Harry. 


THE  SEED  OP  THE  RIGHTEOUS     45 

I  don't  want  to  go  into  business.  Oh,  I'm  not 
~that  kind  a  bit." 

"Not  that  kind,"  he  repeated  musingly. 

"Going  out  into  the  world  kind,"  she  ex- 
plained. "I  like  to  be  at  home  and  to  go  out- 
doors when  I  want  to.  And  to  take  nice  trips 
in  the  summer — people  always  ask  one.  I'd 
hate  to  commit  myself  to  an  office.  But  it  was 
dear  of  you  to  want  me,"  she  added  with  be- 
lated gratitude.  He  seemed  to  fall  into  thought, 
and  she  surreptitiously  returned  to  the  brown 
chiffon,  spreading  its  embroidered  tunic  over 
her  knees  for  study. 

"There  would  be  the  money;"  he  spoke  with 
an  air  of  afterthought. 

"Oh,  we  get  along,"  said  Chloe  easily.  "I 
don't  care  much  about  money.  Things  turn  up 
— like  these  clothes.  Uncle  Harry,  do  you  think 
I  am  a  beast  to  enjoy  them  so  when  that  poor 
girl  is — in  mourning?" 

He  rose  and  trailed  slowly  out  without  an- 
swering, but  that  was  only  his  way.  "If  you 
change  your  mind  I'll  take  you  on,"  he  said 
from  the  door,  without  looking  back. 


46    THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS 

"I  do  appreciate  it,"  Chloe  insisted,  and 
dropped  the  offer  out  of  her  present  mind  into 
the  back  storage  places  of  consciousness,  where 
it  lay  forgotten  for  many  months.  A  moment 
later  she  jumped  up  and  ran  after  him.  "Tell 
Alex  to  look  his  grandest,"  she  commanded. 
"He  is  not  going  to  be  let  off  with  a  business 
suit  any  longer.  Tell  him  that  Miss  Clotilda 
Gage  will  be  lovely  in  brown  chiffon  embroid- 
ered with  gold  thread  in  a  lotus  design." 

Uncle  Harry  blinked  thoughtfully  at  the 
pavement.  "Yes,  I'll  tell  him,"  he  said  with  an 
odd  effect  of  reluctance. 

Sabra  and  Ralston,  meeting  at  the  front  door, 
came  in  as  though  they  had  been  out  together, 
though  as  a  matter  of  fact  they  had  never  vol- 
untarily done  anything  together  in  their  grown 
lives.  There  was  no  visible  hostility  between 
them;  they  simply  seemed  unacquainted.  A 
horse  and  a  cow,  inhabiting  the  same  stable  for 
as  many  years,  will  pass  each  other  with  the 
same  blank  absence  of  recognition.  At  Chloe's 
excited  summons  they  came  in  to  look. 

"I  wouldn't  confess  I  had  Marjorie  Sexton's 
figure  for  all  the  clothes  in  the  city,"  Ralston 


THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS     47 

said,  holding  a  blouse  at  arm's  length  and  tilt- 
•ing  his  gaze  as  if  it  were  a  drawing.  Good 
spirits  with  Ralston  came  out  in  a  hard,  bright 
gaiety  that  could  buffet  rather  roughly.  Chloe 
shrank  under  it,  but  Sabra  met  it  with  calm 
fact. 

"We  all  know  that  Chloe's  slimness  is  very 
pretty  and  graceful;  she  may  be  Marjorie  Sex- 
ton's size  without  giving  at  all  her  effect,"  she 
explained,  but  damped  Chloe's  gratitude  by 
adding:  "I  don't  think  much  of  the  Sexton 
taste.  What  a  pity  they  are  not  prettier !"  She 
went  over  the  garments  one  by  one,  dispassion- 
ately critical — "As  though  they  were  bought 
things!"  Chloe  said  to  herself,  her  joy  gone. 
She  had  seen  the  clothes  through  a  rosy  veil: 
there  had  been  Cinderella  magic  in  the  arrival 
of  the  mysterious  bundle,  left  by  gnarled  old 
Katy.  Fancy  Cinderella  stopping  to  criticize 
the  crystal  trimming  of  her  ball  gown!  Per- 
haps Chloe  herself  would  not  have  chosen  the 
plaid  suit  or  the  saffron  blouse;  but  she  would 
never  have  spoiled  the  glamour  by  saying  so. 
She  stood  by  looking  more  than  ever  like  the 
wistful  Botticelli  angel  and  made  no  protest. 


48    THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS 

They  were  so  tall,  so  sure ;  their  way  must  be 
right.  But  her  heart  jumped  up  to  meet  her 
mother.  Mrs.  Gage  was  weary  and  dusty,  a 
gaunt  old  scarecrow  to  alien  eyes ;  but  her  big, 
strong  smile  and  kind  voice  seemed  always  to 
promise  that  everything  would  be  made  right. 

"Mother,  look  what  I've  got !"  Chloe  cried. 

"Oh,  they  came,  did  they?"  She  was  heart- 
ily pleased.  "Chloe,  dear,  how  pretty !  Let  me 
see  them  all."  Chloe  spread  out  the  dresses, 
but  a  wrinkle  of  fear  was  deepening  between 
her  eyes.  Her  mother  praised  them  to  any 
heart's  content,  but  she  did  not  seem  to  hear. 
She  tried  not  to  ask,  but  the  question  uttered 
itself: 

"You — knew  they  were  coming?" 

"I  hoped  so,  dear.  Didn't  I  tell  you?  (Chloe, 
that  is  a  handsome  blouse;..!  do  like  color  on  a 
young  person.)  I  dropped  a  word  to  Katy,  the 
day  of  Mrs.  Sexton's  death — she  was  going  up 
there.  It  just  occurred  to  me  that  you  and 
Marjorie  were  about  the  same  size.  Have  you 
tried  the  suit?" 

Chloe  had  flushed.  "Oh— mother!"  she 
breathed.  Mrs.  Gage,  examining  the  gold  em- 


THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS     49 

broidery,  did  not  notice.  Chloe  was  clothed  in 
shame,  and  yet  the  other  three,  older  and  wiser 
than  she,  evidently  saw  no  cause  for  wincing. 
Katy,  no  doubt,  had  dropped  the  hint  tactfully 
as  her  own  idea.  And  yet — and  yet !  Up  in  her 
room,  Chloe  let  her  finery  fall  in  a  disregarded 
heap. 

"I  would  rather  have  worn  rags,"  she  said. 
Then  she  lifted  her  face  to  her  invisible  com- 
rade. "Am  I  a  perfect  fool,  father?  Was  that 
just  the  natural,  right  thing  that  any  mother 
would  have  done?"  Sereno  Gage  did  not  an- 
swer, but  his  peace  seemed  to  fall  on  her.  "Are 
you  wishing  you  could  shake  me  for  criticizing 
my  mother?"  she  added  with  the  beginning  of 
a  smile. 

Alex  arrived  late  and  breathless,  but  suit- 
ably dressed  to  accompany  Chloe's  new  gran- 
deur. It  was  a  significant  and  touchingly 
American  fact  that  Alex,  strong  willed  as  he 
was  strong  muscled,  always  did  what  Chloe  told 
him  to.  She  was  as  unconscious  of  this  as  he 
was;  and  yet  she  would  have  been  deeply 
shocked  if  her  little  orders  had  not  been  fol- 
lowed. 


50    THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS 

Alex  was  fond  of  condemning  girls  for  th& 
time  and  attention  they  gave  to  their  looks; 
but  Chloe  had  always  noticed  that  when  her 
clothes  were  especially  becoming,  his  eyes  had 
a  trick  of  rewarding  her.  She  watched  hap- 
pily for  that  quick  lighting  as  she  ran  down  the 
stairs,  carrying  her  wrap  that  he  might  see  all 
at  once  how  fine  she  was.  But  this  time  the 
response  failed  her.  Alex's  glance  had  never 
been  more  cool  and  detached. 

"Forgive  me  for  being  late,"  he  said.  "I 
didn't  get  home  from  the  office  till  some  seven 
minutes  ago." 

"But  your  dinner?"  Chloe  exclaimed,  stop- 
ping short. 

"Oh,  I  took  it  on  the  run — as  the  fast  en- 
gines water.  All  ready?" 

The  open  door  disclosed  a  taxicab.  Usually 
they  would  have  been  merry  over  such  an  ex- 
travagance, but  to-night  Alex  helped  her  in  with 
a  matter-of-course  air  that  checked  comment. 
Perhaps  the  clothes  had  put  them  on  more  for- 
mal terms ;  or  else  they  were  still  a  little  shy  of 
each  other  after  the  months  of  estrangement. 
On  the  way  Alex  entertained  her,  even  flirted 


THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS     51 

with  her,  expending  charm  as  he  would  have 
on  any  pretty  girl.  He  could  be  very  astute  in 
society,  this  obstinate  and  prejudiced  young 
man.  Chloe  had  no  intention  of  taking  him 
back  on  these  terms.  She  waited  until  they 
were  seated  in  the  theater ;  then  she  interrupted 
him  with  a  laugh  in  her  uptilted  face.  She  was 
never  in  the  least  a  wren  with  Alex. 

"Now,  Alex,  you  know  perfectly  well  that  I 
am  a  grand  sight,  and  that  you  will  have  to  say 
so  sooner  or  later,"  she  assured  him.  "What 
is  the  sense  of  holding  back?" 

"I  admit  it,  freely,"  he  said  at  once,  but  his 
voice  was  purposely  unenthusiastic.  He  had 
no  eyes  for  gold  embroidery  or  lace  sleeves. 

"But  I  thought  you  would  enjoy  it."  Chloe 
sounded  as  disappointed  as  human  voice  could. 
"I  thought  you  would  be  so  proud  of  me." 

The  easy  stranger  was  gone.  Alex  jerked 
impatiently  and  manhandled  his  program. 

"I  like  you  better  in  your  own  clothes,"  he 
said ;  then,  seeing  how  hard  he  had  struck,  re- 
pented and  mutely  implored  her  to  forgive  his 
being  the  stiff-necked  ass  he  was. 

"But  they  happen  to  be  mine,  now,"  said 


52    THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS 

Chloe  coldly,  and,  the  curtain  rising,  she  drew 
as  far  away  from  him  as  the  seats  allowed,  giv- 
ing her  entire  attention  to  the  stage.  At  first 
neither  saw  much  of  the  play,  but  the  action 
was  amusing,  and  presently,  when  Chloe  had 
been  made  to  laugh,  Alex  took  heart  and 
laughed  with  her.  When  the  curtain  fell,  her 
elbow  was  back  on  the  rest  between  them. 
Alex  would  have  ignored  the  recent  trouble,  but 
she  stopped  him.  She  had  not  said  lightly  that 
she  was  making  him  "walk  a  chalk  line." 

"No,  my  dear,"  she  said  with  a  quaint  grav- 
ity. "I  am  not  cross  now,  but  we  must  have 
that  out.  Do  you  know  that  your  attitude  seems 
to  me  mean  and  small  ?" 

Twice  Alex  started  to  answer ;  then  he  gave 
it  up.  "It  is  no  use,"  he  exclaimed.  "If  I  try 
to  say  what  I  feel,  I  shall  criticize  your  whole 
family  attitude,  and  that  will  only  make  you 
angry.  But — I  do  want  you  to  be  different,  lit- 
tle Chloe !"  He  was  smiling  now.  "Hang  it,  I 
want  you  to  be  a  credit  to  me.  Haven't  I  half 
brought  you  up?" 

"No,"  said  Chloe  stoutly,  "you  haven't.  You 
were  off  flirting  with  other  girls  in  the  years 


THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS     53 

when  you  might  have  been  of  some  service  to 
me.  And  it  is  where  I  am  different  from  my 
family  that  I  am  less  fine  than  they  are.  You're 
all  wrong,  Alex.  Now,  when  we  came  in  to- 
night, I  saw  a  cousin  of  the  girl  who  gave  me 
this  gown,  and  the  thought  that  she  might  rec- 
ognize it  was  hateful  to  me.  I  hid  in  my  wrap 
and  slipped  past.  But  mother  would  have  gone 
up  to  her  and  said,  'Marjorie  sent  me  this! 
Wasn't  it  kind  of  her?  Doesn't  it  look  well?' 
Don't  you  see  how  much  bigger  that  is,  to  take 
simply  and  gladly,  as  you  would  give?  I  am 
going  to  stop  and  speak  to  her  on  the  way  out 
— with  my  wrap  all  open." 

His  eyes  at  last  were  giving  her  the  deferred 
reward. 

"But  it  is  paying  a  price,  Toto,"  he  told  her. 
"I  would  rather  earn  them  myself." 

"Would  you  rather  I  earned  them?"  She 
spoke  humorously,  as  of  something  impossible, 
and  he  smiled  uncontradictingly  as  the  curtain 
rose.  He  did  not  want  to  drive  away  her  el- 
bow again. 

The  comedy  was  all  love,  love,  love.  Senti- 
ment flowed  like  a  colored  tide  over  the  foot- 


\ 
54    THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS 

lights,  up  through  the  house.  Men  and  women 
drew  closer  together,  imperceptibly  down- 
stairs, frankly  in  the  gallery.  Chloe,  who  had 
quarreled  and  made  up,  realized  only  that  she 
was  quite  exquisitely  gay  and  that  life  was 
good.  Once,  when  she  turned  to  smile  over 
some  point,  Alex's  eyes  held  hers  with  an  odd, 
new  fixity  that  made  her  heart  beat ;  but  when 
the  curtain  fell  on  happy  embraces,  he  was  his 
cousinly  self.  He  had  always  taken  very  dear 
care  of  her  in  crowds  and  streets. 

The  April  night  was  warm  and  they  walked 
home,  unenvious  of  the  limousines  that 
streamed  past,  of  the  lights  and  music  of  the 
cafes.  Half  of  youth's  desire  for  those  things 
is  the  desire  for  love.  These  two  would  have 
denied  that  they  had  found  love — they  were 
cousins,  Chloe  always  explained;  "Step  cou- 
sins," Alex  added;  but  they  turned  from  the 
brightness  as  contentedly  as  though  they  were 
happily  married.  Chloe  forgot  that  Alex  was 
on  probation.  Their  old  intimacy  was  back, 
quickened  and  deepened. 

"How  people  do  work  to  have  a  good  time," 
she  said  as  they  passed  a  carpeted  and 


THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS     55 

awninged  entrance.  "And  all  the  time  it  is  just 
a  matter  of  being  with  the  right  person.  You 
and  I  can  be  as  gay  sitting  on  the  front  steps 
as  in  a  rose-palm-goldfish  garden  with  an  or- 
chestra and  five  soloists.  And  crackers  and 
milk  on  the  kitchen  table  are  just  as  much  fun 
as  anything  you  can  get  at  Delmonico's.  Peo- 
ple don't  realize  it,  that's  all." 

Alex  was  smiling  deeply,  as  though  she  had 
told  him  more  than  she  knew.  "But  everybody 
can't  have  the  right  person — as  you  and  I  can," 
he  said.  "For  some  there  isn't  any  right  per- 
son ;  so  they  have  to  have  sound  and  color  and 
taste  to  keep  them  awake." 

Chloe  had  flushed.  "By  right  person,  I  mean 
any  one  you  like  to  talk  with,"  she  insisted. 

"Of  course.  But  take  that  mammoth,  tur- 
quoise-bearing blonde  who  sat  just  in  front  of 
us — do  you  suppose  she  ever  had  an  interesting 
conversation  in  all  her  fat  life?  It  is  only  peo- 
ple with  brains — like  you  and  me — who  can  be 
just  as  happy  at  the  kitchen  table.  With  the 
right  person."  She  glanced  up  quickly,  but  if 
he  was  teasing  her,  there  was  nothing  to 
show  it. 


56    THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS 

"But  people  who  haven't  brains  do  talk,  and 
enjoy  it,"  she  maintained.  "They  tell  their 
grievances  and  their  quarrels.  Women  on  the 
cars  are  always  saying,  'And  I  says  to  her — ' " 

"And  then  some  man  marries  them  and  has 
to  listen  to  that  all  his  life ;"  Alex  squared  him- 
self for  attack.  "I  have  no  patience — " 

"How  true!"  put  in  Chloe,  and  brought  him 
down  laughing. 

They  turned  into  their  dark  little  corner  of 
town,  lingering  because  there  was  so  much  to 
say.  Where  the  slip  of  park  divided  the  street, 
they  crossed  to  lean  on  the  broken  fence  and 
look  up  into  the  face  of  Sereno  Gage.  Chloe 
had  done  this  all  her  life,  but  to-night  the  little 
act  felt  newly  rich  and  reverential. 

"I  could  never  live  very  far  from  here,"  she 
said  impulsively.  "It  would  not  be  home  to  me 
if  I  couldn't  see  him  every  day.  You  don't 
know  what  he  means  to  me." 

Alex  drew  closer.    "Tell  me,"  he  said. 

The  old  houses  were  all  dark  and  asleep ;  they 
stood  alone  in  the  beloved  presence,  and  from 
the  bit  of  threadbare  sod  at  their  feet  came  a 
dim  April  fragrance.  Chloe,  who  had  kept  the 


THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS     57 

quiet  heart  of  a  little  girl  all  her  twenty  years, 
was  filled  with  a  sudden,  exquisite  sense  of 
change.  It  was  as  though  a  bare  rod  in  her 
hand  had  blossomed. 

"I  have  never  told  any  one,"  she  said. 

"But  you  can  tell  me?"  His  shadow,  cover- 
ing her,  took  her  into  his  big  protection.  She 
looked  up  at  her  father  and  mutely  told  him 
that  she  was  happy,  happy. 

"I  live  with  him,"  she  said  slowly;  but  even 
to  Alex  she  could  not  go  on.  That  secret  com- 
panionship, their  laughter  together,  her  tears 
against  his  breast,  the  unfailing  wisdom  and 
patience  that  had  helped  her  to  grow  up,  were 
too  precious  to  be  cheapened  by  words.  "It  is 
what  he  means  to  all  of  us,"  she  said  instead. 
"Without  this,  our  family  would  fall  apart.  The 
city  would  swallow  us.  Standing  here,  he  is 
like  a — a  fort.  We  can't  quite  be  downed.  We 
have  had  dreadful  struggles,  you  know,  and 
even  mother  couldn't  have  pulled  us  through 
without  this  figure  standing  up  here  above  the 
crowd."  She  turned  impetuously,  her  eyes  wet. 
"What  can  I  do  to  be  worthy  of  him?  Some- 
times it  troubles  me,  Alex.  Sabra  is  doing  big 


58    THE  SEED  OP  THE  RIGHTEOUS 

things,  and  Ralston  is  trying  to.  I'm  only  lit- 
tle Chloe  at  home!  Do  you  suppose  he  is  dis- 
appointed?" 

"My  dear  girl!"  Alex  took  both  her  hands, 
folding  them  together.  "To  be  true  and  gener- 
ous and  not  self-seeking — no,  he  isn't  disap- 
pointed, little  Chloe  at  home !" 

She  drew  away,  startled,  rather  breathless. 
The  open  portals  were  swung  shut  with  girlish 
haste. 

"Well,  little  Chloe  ought  to  be  at  home  this 
minute,"  she  declared,  very  brisk  and  practical. 

"But  your  father  was  with  us,"  Alex  said 
excusingly.  They  parted  on  the  door-step  with 
laughter  and  the  usual  cousinly  handshake. 

Alex  came  slowly  back  to  the  statue,  pausing 
where  they  had  stood  to  look  long  and  intently 
into  the  quiet  face. 

"If  you  had  lived — if  you  had  only  lived !"  he 
said  at  last,  striking  the  fence  with  a  reckless 
fist.  A  paling  clattered  down  and  he  stooped 
to  straighten  it.  When  he  had  had  to  give  it 
up,  he  found  a  policeman  watching  him  from 
the  sidewalk. 

*  'Twill  all  be  down  before  long,"  the  latter 


THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS     59 

said,  recognizing  by  Alex's  evening  dress  that 
his  purposes  were  lawful. 

"Yes;  there  will  have  to  be  a  new  fence," 
Alex  assented.  The  officer  looked  dubiously  at 
the  wedge  of  precious  space. 

"The  traffic  is  getting  pretty  congested  down 
here,"  he  said.  "I  guess  they'll  be  carting  the 
old  gentleman  off  one  of  these  days.  Good 
night,  sir."  And  he  went  slowly  on  his  beat, 
looking  right  and  left  for  disorder  in  his  realm. 


CHAPTER  III 

'OW  that  you  haven't  Billy—"  It  seemed 
to  Chloe  that  every  family  communica- 
tion began  with  that  phrase.  Now  that  she 
hadn't  Billy,  she  could  do  every  one's  work.  She 
had  wanted  to  sit  down  before  her  new  freedom 
and  rejoice  in  it  for  a  few  lovely  weeks,  but  she 
was  too  full  of  buoyant  kindness,  these  May 
days,  to  hold  back. 

They  were  curious  days.  Every  morning  in 
the  early  dawn  she  awoke  as  though  some  one 
had  called  her — as  perhaps  some  one  had,  across 
the  quiet  city  squares.  While  the  light  grew 
the  joy  in  her  grew  like  bird-song ;  then  came 
sinking  wings  of  drowsiness,  taking  her  back 
into  the  dark,  and,  the  next  thing  she  knew, 
Billy's  little  fists  on  the  door  were  telling  her 
that  she  would  be  late  for  breakfast.  All  day 
the  singing  gaiety  lasted,  rising  to  a  secret 
shout  when,  after  dinner,  Alex  came  round  the 
corner.  Then  it  abruptly  fell  away,  and  while 
60 


THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS     6X 

he  stayed  she  was  her  usual  self,  cheerful  or 
mischievous,  quaintly  grave  at  times,  but  un- 
disturbed. Not  till  he  had  been  gone  an  hour 
or  more  did  the  joy  begin  again.  Chloe  asked 
no  questions  of  life ;  spring  was  a  sufficient  ex- 
planation. She  believed  that  she  always  felt 
like  this  in  spring.  Alex  showed  himself  newly 
moody — gay  and  conquering  one  night,  de- 
pressed and  absent  another;  but  he  always 
came. 

"Now  that  you  haven't  Billy,"  said  Sabra, 
"you  can  help  me  with  the  Conference  on  the 
eighth." 

"Will  it  give  me  a  chance  to  wear  my  new 
clothes?"  Chloe  demanded. 

"I  should  think  so." 

"Very  well ;  then  I'll  help." 

Sabra  was  looking  her  over  with  large,  calm 
rebuke.  "Suppose  our  father  had  undertaken 
his  work  because  he  had  a  new  frock  coat,"  she 
suggested. 

"But  he  never  did  have,  poor  dear,"  said 
Chloe,  unabashed.  "And  I'm  sure  if  he  could 
have  had  one — with  a  touch  of  gold  embroidery 
about  it — he  would  have  gone  in  twice  as  hard." 


62    THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS 

This  to  Sabra ;  but  to  the  invisible  comrade  at 
her  side  she  said,  "You  knew  it  was  just  a  lit- 
tle joke!"  and  her  father  smiled  back  his  un- 
derstanding. 

The  Eugenics  Conference  had  been  hastily 
arranged  in  response  to  Mrs.  Tailer  Otis's  of- 
fer of  her  house  for  the  afternoon.  Why  a 
woman  who  had  within  the  year  married  Tailer 
Otis  should  concern  herself  with  eugenics  was 
a  question  no  one  had  the  audacity  to  ask.  The 
former  Mrs.  Otis  had  made  her  home  rich  in 
beautiful  things,  and  the  afterglow  of  her  so- 
cial glory  had  not  yet  faded:  the  house  would 
be  packed.  That,  at  the  end  of  her  first  season, 
the  new  Mrs.  Otis  found  it  necessary  to  pack 
her  house  by  this  impersonal  method  was  a  bit- 
ter comment  on  the  futility  of  millions ;  but  ap- 
parently no  one  heard.  On  the  eighth  the  block 
was  massed  with  motors  and  taxicabs,  and 
elaborate  ladies  slipped  in  on  foot,  hoping  that 
no  one  noticed.  Here  and  there  among  them 
were  earnest-looking  women  who  came  in  plain, 
businesslike  fashion  and  appraised  the  gather- 
ing with  a  cool  eye. 

"We  ought  to  take  in  five  hundred  at  least," 


THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS     63 

these  said  to  one  another,  and  during  the  speak- 
ing they  retired  into  corners  and  held  whis- 
pered committee  meetings.  To  Chloe,  looking 
on  with  vivid  interest,  they  were  like  the  dark, 
busy  engineers  of  a  big  boat;  Sabra,  on  the 
bridge,  was  the  captain  and  the  rest  were  the 
passengers.  As  Sabra's  lieutenant,  she  ran 
back  and  forth  with  messages,  helped  people 
to  find  seats,  answered  questions  about  the  pro- 
gram, and  youthfully  enjoyed  her  activity. 
Then  she  settled  in  a  window  recess  whence  she 
could  look  into  the  intent  faces  and  perhaps 
catch  some  of  their  high  fervor — for  Chloe  had 
a  reverent  heart  that  believed  the  best  of  others 
and  mourned  the  worst  in  herself. 

It  was  a  puzzling  afternoon.  Sabra,  of 
course,  was  splendid,  but  the  long  poem, 
Clouds  of  Glory,  written  for  the  occasion  by 
Mr.  Cyril  DeKay,  was  hard  to  follow,  and  no 
one  more  than  six  rows  back  could  have  heard 
much,  owing  to  the  scraping  chairs  of  the  late- 
comers. The  next  contributor  was  a  handsome 
young  woman  who  spoke  on  The  Child  of  the 
Future  with  a  biological  clearness  that  made 
Chloe  glad  of  her  curtains.  She  felt  horribly 


64    THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS 

i 

sorry  for  Sabra,  pilloried  up  there  on  the  plat- 
form while  this  awful  accident  went  on.  When 
she  dared  look  at  the  audience,  she  saw  with 
bewilderment  the  cool,  complacent  listening  of 
the  ladies ;  it  was  the  semi-occasional  man  who 
twisted  his  feet  and  stared  at  the  ceiling  and 
bit  or  blew  out  his  lips.  Sabra  was  calmer 
than  any  one.  She  actually  seemed  to  like  it. 

"Well,  she  has  to,  poor  soul,"  was  Chloe's 
pitying  explanation.  "I  suppose  they  are  all 
pretending;  and -women  do  it  better  than  men." 

An  old  gentleman  whose  brilliant  name  had 
survived  his  powers  rose  next  and  babbled  in- 
terminably, explaining  woman's  sphere  in 
terms  of  1880 — being  evidently  under  the  im- 
pression that  he  was  assisting  at  a  suffrage 
debate.  He  was  too  famous  to  be  checked ;  the 
stream  of  platitude  flowed  on  and  on,  and  Chloe 
felt  a  chivalrous  longing  to  go  up  and  stand  by 
Sabra  and  so  share  the  mortifying  failure. 

The  audience  sat  packed,  hot,  courteously 
still,  but  Chloe's  acute  disappointment  for  them 
presently  received  a  curious  check ;  for  in  their 
placid,  well-fed  faces  she  seemed  to  read  the 
chilling  truth  that  they  were  no  more  bored 


THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS     65 

than  they  had  expected  to  be.  No  one  left  or 
wriggled  or  whispered;  and  also  no  one  cared. 
Chloe  came  to  the  knowledge  reluctantly, 
ashamedly,  but  she  could  not  argue  it  down. 
Sabra's  fine,  rousing  words  mattered  no  more 
"to  them  than  the  old  man's  chatter.  They  ap- 
plauded her  enthusiastically,  but  they  did  not 
care.  The  vision  of  a  world  purified  through 
its  offspring  left  them  cold.  This  was  not  for 
them  a  world  movement ;  it  was  a  party.  Per- 
haps causes  were  always  furthered  in  this  fash- 
ion, Chloe  reasoned :  a  few  cared,  and  the  nec- 
essary mass  worked  or  paid  for  other  reasons. 
But  it  was  a  hateful  and  disillusioning  reve- 
lation. 

"My  father  really  cared,"  she  told  them; 
"and  Sabra — "  The  words  faltered.  Did  Sabra 
really  care?  It  was  a  shocking  question,  and 
the  ring  of  Sabra's  final  address  triumphantly 
answered  it.  And  yet  Chloe  could  not  quite 
forget  her  moment  of  doubt. 

Mrs.  Tailer  Otis,  who  had  vanished  during 
the  Conference,  reappeared  with  her  mechani- 
cal, hostess  smile  while  the  audience  was  being 
rewarded  with  food,  drink  and  the  freedom  of 


66    THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS 

the  famous  rooms.  Chloe  thought  that  in  the 
midst  of  her  grandeur  she  looked  strained  and 
disappointed,  and  felt  a  compassionate  desire 
to  tell  her  that  bread  and  milk  on  the  kitchen 
table  were  just  as  much  fun  as  all  this  if  you 
had  the  right  person,  a  discovery  that  the  poor 
lady  had  obviously  missed.  Then  she  saw  Sa- 
bra  coming,  and  marveled  at  the  way  she  was 
carrying  the  day's  bitter  disappointment;  she 
had  expected  such  brilliant  things  of  her  pro- 
gram! She  went  up  to  Mrs.  Otis  with  both 
hands  out. 

"We  have  to  thank  you  for  an  inspiring  after- 
noon," she  said  in  her  clear,  rich  voice.  "When 
we  get  together  an  audience  like  this,  we  make 
history!  Their  sympathy  was  like  an  electric 
current ;  I  felt  it  all  through  the  speaking.  Did 
you  know  that  thirty-seven  new  members  have 
been  enrolled?" 

"How  very  nice,"  said  Mrs.  Otis. 

"Oh,  yes ;  this  afternoon  puts  the  Society  on 
a  new,  sound  basis,"  Sabra  affirmed.  "If  a 
year  from  now  you  are  good  enough  to  let  us 
have  the  ballroom  again,  you  will  see  a  big 
gain." 


THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS     67 

Mrs.  Otis's  harassed  glance  passed  over  the 
mass  of  solid  commonplace  that  was  devouring 
her  cake  so  contentedly.  "One  can't  tell  about 
next  year,"  she  said  vaguely.  "I  don't  see  how 
you  do — all  this." 

"It  is  my  life,"  was  the  impressive  answer. 

"So  very  interesting,"  Mrs.  Otis  murmured, 
moving  away  as  others  came  to  congratulate. 
Sabra  was  soon  surrounded  by  admirers. 
Every  one  paused  to  help  pile  up  the  tribute; 
and  Chloe  looked  on  with  astonished  eyes.  In 
her  childishness  she  had  thought  them  bored — 
why,  she  had  known  that  they  did  not  care; 
and  here  they  were,  alight  with  fervor,  chang- 
ing the  dismal  failure  into  a  swelling  success. 
When,  at  home  that  night,  Sabra  told  of  the 
afternoon's  inspired  achievement,  she  shrank 
into  herself,  humbled  and  ashamed. 

"I  think  Mrs.  Tailer  Otis  will  be  a  valuable 
recruit,"  Sabra  told  her  mother.  "She  was  en- 
thusiastic about  to-day's  results:  'I  don't  see 
how  you  do  it/  she  said.  She  wants  us  to  use 
the  ballroom  again  next  year." 

Chloe  slipped  out,  to  sit  on  the  steps  in  the 
warm  dusk. 


68    THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS 

"I'm  ignorant  and  unappreciative,"  she  de- 
cided. "I  was  mistaken,  that's  all.  Sabra 
knows."  And  yet  the  troubled  line  would  not 
leave  her  forehead. 

Alex  found  it  there,  and  asked,  "Headache  ?" 
with  so  caressing  a  sympathy  that  Chloe  nearly 
cried.  Alex's  mother  had  been  an  invalid  for 
several  years  before  her  death,  and  the  rough, 
headstrong  boy  had  developed  a  gentleness,  a 
sunny  tenderness  with  suffering,  that  had  a 
perilous  charm  for  womankind.  A  weaker 
spirit  would  have  produced  a  headache  in  an- 
swer to  such  an  invitation,  but  Chloe  stoutly 
declared : 

"Not  a  bit!" 

"How  was  the  Conference?"  he  asked,  seat- 
ing himself  on  a  lower  step  and  leaning  back 
on  his  elbow  to  look  up  into  her  face.  She 
braced  herself  for  trouble. 

"Thirty-seven  new  members  were  enrolled," 
she  told  him,  "and  they  took  in  over  four  hun- 
dred dollars."  Her  tone  defied  him  to  belittle 
that;  but  Alex  was  not  in  a  ridiculing  mood. 
He  answered  soberly. 


THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS     69 

"Do  you  really  believe  that  stout  ladies  in 
stout  drawing-rooms  achieve  much  of  anything, 
Toto?" 

"Why  not?" 

His  reason  startled  her.  "They  don't  care. 
They  get  up  societies  like  this  for  other  reasons. 
How  can  you  really  serve  a  cause  when  you've 
joined  it  in  order  to  get  personal  importance, 
or  to  break  into  Mrs.  Tailer  Otis's  house?  Or 
because  you  haven't  brains  enough  to  find  oc- 
cupation for  yourself?" 

"Sabra  didn't,"  said  Chloe  quickly. 

"Oh,  no,  Sabra  didn't,"  he  admitted.  "Sabra 
wants — "  he  broke  off  with  a  stretch  and  a 
sigh.  "Well,  perhaps  the  stout  ladies  in  draw- 
ing-rooms do  something  toward  public  opin- 
ion," he  went  on.  "They  make  it  fashionable  to 
be  eugenic!  And  so  the  idea  gets  diffused. 
Yes,  we'll  grant  them  that.  Only  I  do  hate  their 
everlasting  sham !" 

Chloe  thought  for  several  moments,  her  chin 
in  her  hands ;  then  she  turned  to  him  with  a  nod 
of  defiance.  "If  I  wanted  very  much  to  know 
Mrs.  Tailer  Otis,  I  shouldn't  see  the  least  harm 


70    THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS 

in  joining  a  society  that  would  throw  me  with 
her.  We  all  want  to  know  nice  people.  Why 
shouldn't  we  go  where  they  are?" 

Alex  sat  up  with  energy.  "Very  well.  I  can 
show  you  several  societies  where  by  putting  up 
some  money  or  a  good  deal  of  work  you  may  be 
thrown  with  the  nicest  people.  Will  you  join 
at  once?" 

Chloe  hesitated,  then  laughed  weakly.  "Per- 
haps I  will  some  day,"  she  maintained,  but 
Alex  only  laughed  at  her. 

"You're  too  true,  little  Chloe.  When  you 
join,  it  will  be  because  you  care.  And  then 
you'll  make  things  hum !" 

"I'm  not  sure."  Her  secret  trouble  looked 
out  at  him,  the  guilt  of  being  only  little  Chloe 
at  home.  "Others  do  so  much.  Real  or  sham, 
clever  or  stupid,  they  get  things  done." 

Alex  squared  an  obstinate  jaw.  "They  undo 
as  much  as  they  do.  I've  heard  them.  Now  I'm 
a  good  suffragist,  as  you  know,  but  when  a 
lovely  drawing-room  product  buttonholed  me, 
not  long  ago,  and  ran  on  about  her  little  tender 
daughter  at  home  and  big,  rough,  bad  men  mak- 
ing laws  for  her — Lord!  I  had  to  talk  to  an 


THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS    71 

anti  and  hear  some  worse  stuff  to  get  back  my 
reason." 

"But  you  wouldn't  have  realized  that  you 
were  for  suffrage  if  ladies  in  drawing-rooms 
hadn't  stirred  it  up,"  said  Chloe  shrewdly,  and 
he  had  to  laugh. 

"I  don't  care,  I  hate  'em,"  he  said,  comfort- 
ably falling  back  on  prejudice.  "Oh,  I  don't 
mean  the  real  ones,  of  course;  but  the  ones 
who  only  come  because  it's  a  Fifth  Avenue  ad- 
dress. Now,  don't  say  they  are  no  worse  than 
men.  What  I  can't  forgive  them  is  that  they 
aren't  a  darn  sight  better." 

"Lots  of  them  are,"  said  Chloe.  "And  per- 
haps it  is  better  to  work  wrong-headedly  than 
not  to  work,"  she  added  with  a  sigh. 

"But  you  are  only  a  little  girl  yet,"  he  con- 
soled her.  "You  are  looking  on,  and  growing 
up — oh,  very  earnestly ! — and  biding  your  time, 
and  being  very  loyal  to  everything  round  you 
till  you  know  just  where  you  stand.  But  some 
day  you  will  rise  up — you'll  bust  loose,  Toto." 

"And  what  then?" 

"Well,  you  will  still  be  the  dearest  little  girl 
in  the  world,"  was  the  impulsive  answer.  Then 


72     THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS 

Alex  straightened  up  as  though  he  shook  him- 
self and  laughed  away  the  speech.  "How's 
Billy  getting  on  with  his  Montessori?"  he 
asked. 

Chloe  hesitated.  "The  trouble  is,  Billy  has 
brains,"  she  said  finally,  and  looked  surprised 
at  Alex's  shout  of  laughter.  "I  mean,  you  don't 
have  to  develop  him  so  cautiously,"  she  ex- 
plained. "He  could  learn  anything." 

"Then,  for  the  love  of  Mike,  take  him  home 
and  teach  him,"  Alex  urged,  and  laid  down  the 
law  about  the  education  of  the  young  with  a 
dogmatic  assurance  that  would  have  made  a 
saint  take  the  other  side.  They  argued  hotly 
at  first,  then  came  to  peaceable  conclusions  and 
said  a  sensible  good  night  over  the  topic.  But, 
in  spite  of  all  Alex's  thoughtful  remarks,  just 
one  phrase  lingered  with  Chloe — "the  dearest 
little  girl  in  the  world."  It  went  to  bed  with 
her,  woke  up  with  her  in  the  fresh  dawn,  set 
itself  to  music  in  her  heart.  Surely  never  had 
man  called  woman  anything  quite  so  enchant- 
ing as  that  .  .  .  the  dearest  little  girl  in  the 
world. 

By  morning  the  phrase  had  lifted  the  last  soft 


THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS     73 

veil  of  Chloe's  unconsciousness.  She  saw  with 
joy  and  awe  just  where  she  stood,  and  never 
doubted  but  that  Alex  was  at  the  same  place — 
all  ready  to  hold  out  eager  arms.  Familiar 
words  burst  into  blooming  significance:  "en- 
gaged"— by  bedtime  she  might  be — oh,  ro- 
mance that  stopped  the  breath — "engaged!" 
And  the  name  Alex,  which  she  had  uttered  so 
casually  all  her  life,  grew  magically  into  some- 
thing big  and  secret  and  resounding,  to  be  si- 
lently repeated,  like  a  prayer,  but  not  easily 
spoken. 

"Now  that  you  haven't  Billy,"  said  Chloe's 
mother  that  morning,  "you  can  help  me  with 
the  fund  for  your  father." 

Chloe,  who  had  been  dreaming  at  the  window, 
an  idle  duster  in  her  hand,  turned  a  startled 
face.  "The  fund— for  my  father?" 

"Oh,  I  forgot :  you  weren't  here  when  Sabra 
and  I  discussed  it."  Mrs.  Gage  settled  comfort- 
ably in  a  rocking  chair  to  discuss  it  all  over 
again.  She  dearly  loved  plans.  "The  fence, 
dear,  and  the  grass ;  the  city  won't  keep  it  up, 
and  there  is  no  use  protesting  and  writing  to 
the  papers  any  longer.  So  we  are  going  to 


74    THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS 

raise  a  fund  to  keep  it  in  perpetual  care.  I 
know  a  dozen  people  who  will  be  glad  to  give 
something  toward  it.  And  if  we  need  more 
we  can  get  up  a  little  entertainment.  Perhaps 
Rawly  would  write  a  play  for  us." 

Chloe  was  trying  not  to  look  appalled.  She 
had  no  idea  why  the  project  so  depressed  her. 
The  need  was  undeniable.  "Do  you  mean,  ask 
people,  ourselves,  for  the  money?"  she  faltered. 

"Why  not?"  Mrs.  Gage  spoke  from  an  ex- 
panded chest.  "If  the  widow  and  children  of 
Sereno  Gage  don't  work  for  his  memory,  who 
will?  Mrs.  Van  Dusen  would  help,"  she  added, 
dropping  to  her  usual  tones.  "I  shouldn't  won- 
der if  she  got  a  good  big  sum  from  the  Com- 
modore for  us.  Suppose  you  go  and  talk  to 
your  Uncle  Harry  about  it." 

Chloe  seemed  to  contract  bodily  at  the  sug- 
gestion. "He  won't  do  anything." 

"Now,  Chloe,  if  you  start  out  that  way,  you 
will  never  get  anything,"  was  the  brisk  rebuke. 
"Remember  that  he  is  your  father's  brother — " 

"Step-brother,"  said  Chloe. 

"It  is  all  the  same.  Alice  Murray  ought  to 
be  told — your  father  was  so  fond  of  her  when 


THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS     75 

she  was  a  little  girl.  If  you  would  rather  go 
first  to  her — " 

Chloe  had  flushed.  She  still  could  not  hear 
Mrs.  Murray's  name  without  a  rush  of  shamed 
anger. 

"Oh,  no.  I  will  see  Uncle  Harry,"  she  said 
hastily. 

"He  might  know  people  who  would  be  inter- 
ested. Perhaps  Alex  would  help."  Mrs.  Gage 
rose.  "If  we  start  out  now,  we  can  have  the 
ball  rolling  by  night,"  she  said  from  the  stairs. 

She  came  back  in  a  few  moments  dressed  for 
the  street — at  least,  her  gaunt  and  battered  old 
frame  was  topped  by  a  bonnet  and  she  had 
pulled  a  pair  of  limp  black  gloves  half  on,  leav- 
ing her  thumbs  free.  Her  eager  spirit,  already 
far  on  ahead,  knew  nothing  of  externals,  yet 
neither  the  ancient  and  disregarded  clothes  nor 
her  grenadier  tramp  could  hide  the  fact  that 
she  was  a  gentlewoman.  Chloe  saw  her  go 
with  the  old  divided  sense  of  inferiority  and 
protest.  Her  mother  was  so  splendid — but  if 
she  only  wouldn't !  Then  she  shook  herself  and 
finished  her  work,  that  she  might  call  on  Un- 
cle Harry. 


76    THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS 

It  was  a  momentous  step.  Chloe  had  bor- 
rowed egg  beaters  and  carpet  sweepers,  had 
written  notes  about  the  needs  of  the  Babies' 
Outings  and  begged  books  for  the  Neighbor- 
hood Reading  Room,  but  the  care  of  Billy  had 
spared  her  any  active  or  responsible  part  in  the 
family  campaigns.  She  had  a  depressed  sense 
that  her  hand  was  being  forced,  that  her  little- 
girl  silence  would  protect  her  no  longer:  she 
must  go  the  family  way  or  take  her  stand 
against  it.  Every  instinct  of  her  being  was 
against,  yet  the  arguments  seemed  to  be  all 
on  their  side.  The  cause  was  good;  how  could 
she  refuse  to  help? 

"One  thing  or  the  other,"  she  told  herself  all 
the  way.  "Either  go  home  and  say  you  won't 
or  do  it  well."  And,  because  she  so  longed  to 
go  home,  she  finally  marched  herself  into  Un- 
cle Harry's  office  and  told  her  purpose  with  a 
very  good  imitation  of  her  mother's  cheerful 
energy. 

After  all,  it  was  not  so  hard.  Uncle  Harry, 
listening  with  dropped  head,  assented  with  the 
familiar  slow  "Yes — "  to  every  aspect  of  the 
proposition.  She  had  expected  teasing,  but  he 


THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS     77 

did  not  seem  to  be  in  his  usual  mood  of  humor- 
ous detachment.  It  occurred  to  her  as  she 
talked  that  he  was  growing  into  an  old  man. 
At  the  end  he  took  out  his  check-book  and  wrote 
her  a  sum  that  made  her  exclaim. 

"Yes;  your  mother  couldn't  have  done  any 
better  at  your  age,"  he  said. 

She  was  often  not  quite  sure  what  Uncle 
Harry  meant,  and  now  she  was  too  elated  to 
question. 

"But  ought  you  to  give  so  much?"  She  of- 
fered it  back,  but  he  shook  his  head. 

"It  would  be  too  bad  if  you  were  discouraged 
at  the  very  outset  of  your  career,"  he  explained. 
"Hadn't  any  idea  you  possessed  so  much  of  the 
family  talent." 

"I  was  frightened  to  death,"  she  confessed. 
"I  hated  it,  Uncle  Harry!  But  now  I  don't  so 
much  mind  going  on." 

"Yes ;  you'll  like  it  presently.  Why  don't  you 
drop  in  on  old  Jacob  Ritz  on  the  floor  below? 
He  knew  your  father — had  met  him,  anyway." 

Chloe's  joy  fell.    "But  I  don't  know  him !" 

"That's  nothing.  He's  rich — that's  all  you 
need  to  know." 


78    THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS 

She  tried  to  confront  the  prospect  bravely, 
but  her  limbs  turned  heavy  and  her  heart  sank 
in  her  side. 

"It's  no  use,  I'd  rather  die !"  she  burst  out. 

He  smiled,  but  rather  sadly.  "Oh,  you  won't 
feel  that  way  long,"  he  assured  her. 

She  tried  to  believe  him.  "I  have  done 
enough  for  one  morning,"  she  said,  folding 
away  the  check  and  rising.  "Do  you  think — j 
Alex  would  help?  Since  it's  a  family  matter? 
Mother  said  to  ask."  She  had  stammered  over 
the  name.  If  Alex's  father  knew  what  was 
happening,  what  might  happen  that  very 
night !  The  secret  spring  song,  silenced  for  the 
moment  by  her  undertaking,  came  welling  up 
again.  She  almost  told  the  marvelous  news, 
then  burned  red  with  the  realization  that  it  had 
not  yet  come  true.  "Perhaps  by  to-morrow  we 
can  tell  him,"  was  her  thought. 

Uncle  Harry,  tapping  his  pencil  on  the  desk's 
edge,  was  looking  very  sober.  "Don't  believe 
Alex  has  much  talent  for  raising  money,"  he 
said.  "I've  often  wished  one  of  my  children 
would  develop  it." 


THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS     79 
"Tell  him,  anyway,"  said  Chloe,  and  went 

• 

happily  home.  How  silly  she  had  been,  to  take 
it  so  hard ! 

Mrs.  Gage  was  gone  all  day,  but  Chloe  spent 
the  afternoon  getting  ready  for  the  evening. 
Only  a  girl  in  love  could  have  found  so  many 
rites  to  perform ;  but  when  the  purification  was 
complete  from  her  washed  hair  to  her  white 
shoes,  she  put  on  the  simplest  of  her  gowns, 
lest  she  betray  her  expectation,  and  eased  her 
full  heart  by  loving  Billy. 

"He  will  always  be  my  little  boy,  no  matter 
where  I  live,"  she  thought,  as  they  went  hand  in 
hand  to  the  corner  to  say  good  night  to  Billy's 
grandfather.  Only  very  bad  weather  could  cut 
out  this  ceremony. 

The  patient  statue  looked  worn  and  dusty  in 
the  sunset  light.  Billy,  clinging  to  the  palings, 
shouted  his  day's  news,  and  Chloe's  shining  eyes 
silently  told  hers. 

"I  know  that  you  love  Alex,  too,"  she  assured 
him.  "Oh,  father,  isn't  he  splendid !" 

"And  they  was  a  po-or  li'l  lame  boy,"  Billy 
was  saying;  "and  he  didn'  have  no  ower  foot, 


80    THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS 

and  he  can't  run,  and  he  can't  djump,  and  he 
can't — "  Billy's  voice  was  rising  to  tears  and 
Chloe  hastily  broke  in. 

"Billy,  darling,  do  you  know  that  grand- 
father is  going  to  have  a  present?  Nice  new 
grass  and  a  nice  new  fence — you  tell  him  about 
it."  So  Sereno  Gage  was  told  his  news  with 
much  imaginary  detail — he  and  Chloe  exchang- 
ing smiles  over  Billy's  excited  head,  and  the 
little  boy  went  home  very  happy ;  but  long  after 
he  had  been  put  to  bed  he  called  for  Toto,  cling- 
ing to  her  dress  with  hot  little  hands. 

"That  po-or  li'l  lame  boy — a  wicked,  bad  train 
hurt  him,  Toto!"  The  broad  face,  so  like  his 
grandfather's,  was  quivering  into  tears.  Chloe 
did  not  seek  to  divert  him  now ;  instead,  she  told 
him  all  that  could  be  comforting  about  maimed 
lives,  trying  to  turn  his  passion  of  pity  into  the 
idea  of  helping.  Young  as  he  was,  she  knew  it 
was  only  by  service  that  Billy  could  live 
through  the  sorrows  of  this  world.  The  others, 
absorbed  in  their  own  affairs,  had  no  idea  what 
Billy  was,  and  Chloe  never  told  them.  He  was 
her  secret.  Fine  though  her  mother's  service 
was,  Chloe  instinctively  turned  from  that  kind 


THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS     81 

.for  the  little  boy.  She  did  not  want  Billy  to 
raise  money! 

She  had  left  her  dinner  unfinished,  but  she 
did  not  go  back  to  it.  Alex  might  come  any 
minute  now,  running  to  her  as  she  had  run  to 
him  all  day.  She  had  planned  to  take  a  book 
out  on  the  steps,  that  she  might  have  something 
to  do  with  her  eyes  when  he  turned  the  corner, 
but  dealing  with  Billy's  trouble  had  lifted  her 
above  nerves  and  girlish  fears,  leaving  her 
grave  and  womanly,  deeply  aware  of  the  rich- 
ness of  life  and  the  bigness  of  human  hearts. 
She  could  look  into  his  eyes  and  wait  for  him 
to  take  her  hands. 

"Well,  dear,  I  didn't  half  finish  telling  you 
about  my  day ;"  Mrs.  Gage  came  out  as  placidly 
as  though  the  warm  dusk  had  not  been  sent  for 
lovers  only,  and  seated  herself  on  the  steps 
without  seeing  that  they  awaited  some  one  else. 
"Mrs.  Van  Dusen  thought  that  the  Commodore 
was  feeling  the  hard  times,  but  I  went  right 
down  to  him  myself — " 

The  tale  of  a  prosperous  day  fell  on  ears  that 
were  indignantly  deaf.  Chloe  had  tumbled 
from  an  exalted  woman  spirit  to  a  very  petulant 


82    THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS 

and  uneasy  girl,  whose  romance  was  threatened. 
She  tried  by  every  device  but  open  speech  to 
send  her  mother  in  again,  but  Mrs.  Gage  was 
comfortable  and  not  afraid  of  damp,  and  she 
had  much  to  tell.  Half  the  evening  dragged  by 
and  still  she  ma.de  no  move;  and  Alex  did  not 
come. 

"I  believe  we  can  raise  enough  without  an 
entertainment;"  Mrs.  Gage  was  enjoying  the 
enterprise  as  an  old  campaigner  might  enjoy  a 
light  skirmish;  "but  it  wouldn't  be  much 
trouble.  Louisa  Scarlett  would  sing — she  never 
forgets  that  I  introduced  her  to  the  man  who 
got  her  into  the  Metropolitan." 

"But  that  was  five  years  ago,"  Chloe  ob- 
jected; "and  she  has  sung  for  it  three  times 
already."  She  would  not  have  said  that  if  she 
had  not  been  so  strained  with  expectation,  so 
bitter  with  disappointment;  but  Mrs.  Gage's 
good  humor  was  unfailing. 

"It  is  very  little  trouble  to  her,  dear.  I  will 
get  some  one  to  send  a  car  for  her.  And  Cyril 
DeKay  will  always  write  a  poem — " 

Some  one  had  turned  the  corner,  and  Chloe's 


THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS     83 

heart  had  vaulted  before  she  saw  that  it  was 
not  Alex.  Her  shaken  nerves  spoke. 

"Mother,  I  won't  sell  tickets.  I  can't  stand 
it — that  awful  wait  in  the  drawing-room  while 
they  are  wondering  why  you  have  come  and 
looking  for  their  purses.  I  can't !" 

"Your  mother  and  sister  have  done  it  a  good 
many  times;"  but  the  reproof  was  gently  de- 
livered. "It  won't  be  necessary,  however.  We 
will  simply  mail  them  in  twos  and  fours  to  any 
one  who  might  be  interested." 

"But  then  they  have  to  pay  or  send  them 
back,"  said  Chloe  quickly.  "I  don't  think  that  is 
fair.  It  would  make  me — •" 

"Chloe,  dear,  if  you  can't  do  anything  but  find 
objections,  you  will  not  be  very  useful.  And  I 
should  think,  for  your  father's  memory,  you 
would  want  to  do  what  you  could."  The  rebuke 
was  softened  by  a  kindly  hand  on  her  daughter's 
knee.  Chloe's  eyes  filled.  When  they  were 
clear  again,  Alex  stood  at  the  foot  of  the  steps. 

He  was  late  and  listless,  with  a  moody  brow 
and  a  cool  handclasp,  the  lover  she  had  awaited 
all  day,  but  Chloe  in  her  sudden  gladness  ex- 


84    THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS 

plained  and  excused  all.  Something  had  kept 
and  troubled  him.  But  now  her  mother  would 
go  in  and  all  would  be  made  right — for  he  had 
called  her  the  dearest  little  girl  in  the  world. 

Mrs.  Gage  welcomed  him  with  her  hearty 
cordiality  that  was  like  a  man's  clap  on  the 
shoulder.  "Well,  Alex!  How  are  you?  Sit 
down.  Have  you  heard  what  Chloe  and  I  are 
doing — did  your  father  tell  you?"  She  had 
never  yet  drawn  enthusiasm  from  Alex,  but  she 
would  never  cease  to  look  for  it  in  response  to 
her  stirring  communications.  Uncle  Harry 
himself  could  not  have  given  a  dryer  answer. 

"Yes;  he  told  me." 

Mrs.  Gage  set  forth  expansively  what  they 
had  done  and  what  was  planned,  and  Alex  lis- 
tened in  moody  silence.  Once  his  glance  crossed 
Chloe's,  but  it  held  no  recognition  of  her  dear- 
ness. 

"Now  that  Chloe  hasn't  Billy,  she  is  going  to 
be  a  splendid  little  helper,"  Mrs.  Gage  said, 
fondly  encouraging  her  child's  somewhat  halt- 
ing spirit.  "People  will  always  give  for  a  good 
cause.  Alex,  I  wonder  if  you  couldn't  do  some- 
thing for  this?" 


THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS     85 

"That  is  what  I  came  to  see  you  about,"  was 
the  surprising  answer.  "Aunt  Emily,  I  have  a 
proposition  to  make.  The  fence  won't  amount 
to  much — you  have  enough  money  for  that 
already.  Let  me  keep  the  plot  in  order  for  you. 
I  will  do  it  myself  or  have  it  done  all  my  life, 
and  provide  for  it  in  my  will." 

"But,  Alex,  when  you  work  so  hard — "  Mrs. 
Gage  was  touched  but  puzzled.  "Why  should 
you?" 

He  debated  his  answer,  choosing  his  words. 
"Well,  it  would  let  you — and  Chloe — off  from 
raising  any  more  money,"  he  said  at  last.  "This 
seems  to  me  a  family  matter.  I  am  more  than 
willing  to  do  my  share." 

Mrs.  Gage  found  him  a  dear,  good  boy,  but 
would  not  think  of  consenting.  "Why,  this  little 
sum  is  nothing,"  she  assured  him.  "If  you  could 
know  the  thousands  I  have  raised  in  my  day !" 

Alex  was  blank  to  her  radiating  friendliness. 
"I  wish  you  would  let  me,"  he  repeated,  then 
fell  doggedly  silent.  Presently,  to  Chloe's  dis- 
may, he  rose. 

"I  am  off  for  two  or  three  weeks,"  he  told 
them  both.  "I  am  going  to  try  commuting;  a 


86    THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS 

man  I  know  wants  me  to  stay  with  him  down 
on  Long  Island  while  his  family  is  away.  Chloe, 
I'll  bring  you  up  some  lilacs."  He  shook  hands 
as  any  acquaintance  might,  apparently  not  no- 
ticing that  Chloe  did  not  answer.  "Good  night." 
There  was  no  glance  back,  no  hint  of  a  hope 
that  she  would  at  least  walk  to  the  corner  with 
him.  The  hand  that  dropped  hers  went 
promptly  to  a  pocket  for  his  pipe. 

"Now  that  was  very  nice  of  Alex,"  Mrs.  Gage 
began,  but  Chloe  slipped  away. 

The  sun  had  become  a  burden  and  the  moon 
an  insult,  food  was  an  unswallowable  dryness 
in  the  mouth,  and  conversation  drummed  on 
raw  nerves.  Chloe,  overwhelmed  in  disaster, 
did  not  seek  causes  or  explanations;  the  grim 
truth  that  love  does  not  necessarily  come  run- 
ning to  meet  love  was  all  she  could  master.  In 
three  days  her  uptilted,  secular-angel  face  had 
grown  woefully  pointed,  and  her  erect  slimness 
drooped.  When  her  mother  gave  suggestions 
for  following  up  her  good  beginning  and  com- 
pleting the  fund,  Chloe  looked  at  her  remotely, 
took  the  lists  of  names,  then  went  up  to  her 


THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS     87 

room  and  lay  on  her  bed  all  the  morning,  star- 
ing at  the  wall. 

"Chloe  isn't  well,"  Mrs.  Gage  said  excusingly, 
as  she  tramped  off  for  the  day's  campaign. 
"She  must  have  a  change."  And  so  she  spread 
the  tale  of  her  daughter's  need,  quite  simply  and 
openly,  that  some  one  might  not  miss  the  chance 
to  do  a  kind  act.  And  presently  she  came  home 
shining  with  good  news. 

"Chloe,  dear!"  She  had  to  sit  down  for 
breath.  "The  nicest  thing!  The  Commodore 
is  planning  to  take  out  the  yacht  in  June  for  a 
month's  cruise,  and  if  he  does,  you  are  to  be 
asked  to  go.  Isn't  that  splendid?" 

A  breath  of  salt  coolness  seemed  to  touch 
Chloe's  heavy  head.  At  the  thought  of  getting 
away,  of  motion  and  change,  she  straightened. 
"Oh,  mother!  Who  are  going?" 

Mrs.  Gage  fanned  the  spark  of  animation 
with  happy  enthusiasm.  There  would  be  young 
people,  and  dancing,  and  white  gowns  for 
southern  waters ;  she  had  Chloe  hunting  for  her 
bathing  suit  before  she  had  finished. 

"The  cruise  depends  on  the  stock  market ;  but 


88     THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS 

times  are  getting  better,"  she  said.  "I  shall  be 
ordering  the  fence  for  your  father  before  long. 
The  fund  is  more  than  half  raised." 

Chloe  laid  her  hand  on  her  mother's.  "You 
must  be  tired.  You  are  so  splendid,  mother!" 

Mrs.  Gage  liked  it  enormously.  "I  wish  you 
were  as  strong  as  your  old  mother,  Toto,"  she 
said,  patting  the  little  hand. 

For  twenty-four  hours  the  stimulus  lasted 
and  Chloe  went  about  with  a  new  step;  then 
came  the  sweet,  heavy  dusk,  made  for  lovers 
only,  and  the  respite  was  over.  Not  moonlit 
seas  nor  gay  company  nor  white  dresses  on 
white  decks  could  avail  if  Alex  did  not  love  her. 
Nothing  less  could  fill  her  empty,  empty  life. 
After  dinner  she  went  to  her  room  and  put 
away  the  gowns  and  the  hoarded  treasures  of 
finery,  dragging  out  the  task  to  its  utmost 
length  in  terror  of  the  hours  that  still  lay  be- 
tween her  and  sleep.  All  her  life  long  the 
evenings  must  loom  like  this,  dark  wastes  from 
which  only  sleep  could  rescue  her.  When  at 
last  she  came  out,  Ralston  called  to  her  from 
his  room.  He  was  uncovering  an  old  type- 
writer. 


"Look  here,  Chloe,"  he  said,  "now  that  you/ 
haven't  Billy—" 

Chloe  burst  into  laughter,  a  wild,  gasping 
mirth  that  ended  in  a  sob,  and  fled.  Behind  her 
closed  door  she  had  to  fight  bodily  for  self-con- 
trol, twisting  her  hands  together,  hurting  her- 
self, till  the  stormy  rebellion  died  down.  It  left 
her  spent,  passive,  too  weary  to  face  the  others. 
She  hated  the  steps  now,  but  she  opened  the 
front  door  and  stole  out  for  a  breath  of  fresh- 
ness. 

A  dim  mass  at  her  feet  stirred,  took  human 
outline.  Then,  as  her  eyes  adjusted  to  the  dark- 
ness, she  found  herself  looking  into  Alex's  up- 
turned face.  He  sat  heavily,  as  though  he  had 
been  there  a  long  time. 

"Well,  Chloe!"  he  said. 

She  could  not  answer  at  once.  She  sat  down 
above  him,  weakly,  waiting  for  him  to  begin. 
Her  one  clear  thought  was  that  she  must  hide 
the  outrageous  joy  that  would  have  risen  to  a 
shout. 

"I  thought  you  were  never  coming,"  Alex  said 
irritably.  The  week  had  changed  him :  his  color 
was  dimmed,  his  shoulders  had  dropped  away 


90     THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS 

i 

from  their  fighting  squareness.  Even  his 
clothes  seemed  to  have  lost  some  quality  of 
vigorous  freshness;  and  he  was  evidently  far 
from  good  tempered.  Chloe  suddenly  regained 
her  power. 

"I  thought  you  were  in  the  country,"  she  said 
with  cheerful  ease. 

"I  couldn't  stand  commuting;"  Alex  spoke 
through  set  teeth.  "It  drove  me  wild.  And 
Gordon  is  such  an  ass — I  never  was  so  hideously 
bored  in  my  life.  I  had  to  come  back." 

Chloe's  heart  was  lifting.  "You  didn't  bring 
me  any  lilacs." 

"They  weren't  out,"  he  said  hastily.  "At 
least — I  don't  know — they  may  have  been.  I'm 
sorry,  Toto."  His  eyes  were  desperately,  hag- 
gardly sorry.  She  smiled  into  them. 

"You  forgot  all  about  me." 

"Yes.  That's  it.  I  forgot  you,"  was  the  ex- 
plosive answer.  "God!  But  Long  Island  is  a 
horrible  place!" 

"New  York  hasn't  been  very  nice,"  she  told 
him.  "I  may  go  yachting  next  month."  He  let 
her  talk  about  her  plans,  but  she  was  not  at  all 
sure  that  he  listened.  Suddenly  he  broke  in. 


THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS     91 

"Still  raising  the  wind,  Chloe?  How's  the 
fund  coming  on  ?"  His  look  startled  her,  for  in 
it  lay  the  wrong-headed,  obstinate  hostility  that 
he  had  so  often  turned  on  the  family. 

"Very  well  indeed,"  she  said  with  spirit. 

"Congratulations!"  He  was  rising  to  his 
feet.  "Good  night,"  he  added  over  his  shoulder ; 
but  a  firm  voice  stopped  him. 

"Alex — do  you  think  you  are  a  very  good  boy 
to-night?" 

He  half  turned.  "Forgive  me,  Toto;  I'm 
sorry,"  he  muttered.  For  a  moment  he  hung 
between  going  and  staying,  then  with  a  shrug 
he  took  himself  off. 

Chloe  sat  where  she  was  until  the  lights  be- 
hind her  began  to  go  out ;  then  she  went  to  the 
corner  and  crossed  the  street  to  look  up  into  her 
father's  face. 

"He  does  love  me,"  she  silently  told  him. 
"Perhaps  he  doesn't  want  to — I  don't  know — • 
I  don't  care!  It's  all  right — he  loves  me.  Oh, 
father,  I'm  glad!  I'm  glad!"  With  the  blur- 
ring of  her  eyes  the  kind  face  seemed  to  smile 
and  the  hand  to  move  in  benediction. 


CHAPTER  iy 

MRS.  CARTARET'S  big  house  was  usu- 
ally closed  by  the  first  of  May,  but  this 
year  she  lingered  on  in  town,  and  Ralston  was 
still  hurrying  over  there  in  the  early  morning, 
impatient  of  anything  that  came  between  him 
and  his  inspired  workroom.  He  returned  later 
and  later.  Sometimes  now  it  was  evening  be- 
fore his  family  saw  him  again,  his  lips  tightly 
closed,  but  in  his  eyes  a  fever  of  excited  hope. 
They  did  not  admit  what  a  relief  it  was  to  have 
his  work  out  of  the  house,  but  sometimes,  meet- 
ing in  the  upper  hall,  Mrs.  Gage  still  started  to 
breathe  a  necessary  communication  into  Chloe's 
ear,  and  then  would  suddenly  remember  that 
there  was  no  one  to  burst  out  on  her,  raging  for 
silence,  and  they  would  laugh  together  with 
voices  joyously  released. 

"Do  you  suppose  he  lets  Mrs.  Cartaret  tele- 
phone?" Chloe  had  the  wickedness  to  ask  at  one 
of  these  meetings.  A  vision  of  Ralston  jump- 

92 


THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS     93 

ing  out  at  the  lovely  and  dignified  lady  of  the 
house  gave  her  joy,  but  her  mother  answered 
seriously : 

"He  wouldn't  hear  it,  up  there  at  the  top  of 
the  house.  I  hope  he  leaves  his  door  open  in 
this  weather,"  she  went  on,  for  a  sickly  and  un- 
seasonable heat  lay  over  the  city.  "Dear  me, 
isn't  it  oppressive?  We  are  going  to  have  ice- 
cream for  dinner — I've  sent  Lizzie  over  to  the 
Henrys'  for  the  freezer." 

The  familiar  line  of  trouble  appeared  between 
Chloe's  eyes.  "But  Lizzie  is  so  careless  about 
returning  it,"  she  said.  "Last  time  they  had  to 
send  after  it.  I  was  so  mortified." 

"We'll  remind  her,  dear;"  Mrs.  Gage  spoke 
with  a  large  reassurance  that  promised  every- 
thing, and  Chloe,  though  she  knew  better,  could 
not  help  feeling  relieved  of  responsibility.  "I 
am  afraid  it  will  be  a  bad  summer,"  the  mother 
added,  wiping  her  forehead. 

"I  hope  the  yachting  trip  comes  true,"  Chloe 
said,  but  she  did  not  in  the  least  mean  it.  Noth- 
ing could  have  induced  her  to  leave  town  just 
then.  Alex  had  been  back  for  a  week,  and 
though  he  did  not  come  or  give  a  sign,  Chloe's 


94    THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS 

bloom  had  returned.  "Billy  ought  to  have  some 
beach,"  she  added. 

"I  can  take  him  on  some  of  the  Babies*  Out- 
ing trips;  unless  something  better  turns  up. 
What  is  it,  Lizzie?" 

The  maid  of  all  work  was  mounting  heavily 
to  announce  that  the  Henrys'  freezer  was  in  use. 

"Then  you  will  have  to  get  the  Careys',"  was 
the  prompt  answer.  "I  am  sorry ;  it  isn't  in  as 
good  condition  as  the  Henrys'.  But  you  can 
make  it  do,  Lizzie.  I  want  something  cool  for 
Rawly,"  she  added  to  Chloe.  "The  dear  boy 
is  working  himself  to  death." 

Chloe  turned  away  in  silence.  She  had  to 
admit  that,  owning  a  freezer,  she  would  be 
genuinely  glad  to  lend  it ;  and  yet  she  could  not 
help  wincing  and  wishing  with  ignoble  intensity 
that  they  had  one  of  their  own. 

Ralston  did  not  come  for  his  ice-cream.  Nine 
had  struck  before  they  heard  his  step.  He 
paused  in  the  doorway,  looking  about  the  plain 
little  room  as  though  he  saw  it  from  some  fresh 
angle.  Mrs.  Gage  was  darning  Billy's  flannels 
and  Chloe  was  reading  to  her,  while  Sabra  at  a 
desk  bent  obliviously  over  a  pile  of  papers.  It 


THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS     95 

was  a  comfortable  home  scene  or  else  a  grace- 
less, glamourless  vision  of  exile,  according  to 
the  eyes  that  saw.  Mrs.  Gage  met  him  with  the 
embracing,  "Well,  dear !"  that  had  never  failed 
one  of  them  on  a  return. 

Ralston  did  riot  respond.  His  eyes  burned 
black  in  a  white  face,  and  his  stillness  was  more 
arresting  than  a  shout.  Pen,  needle  and  half 
turned  page  stopped  where  they  were  as  though 
a  spell  had  fallen.  It  seemed  very  long  before 
he  spoke. 

"I've  got  my  chance,  my  real  chance ;"  he  was 
as  short  of  breath  as  though  he  had  been  run- 
ning. "Mrs.  Cartaret  is  going  to  back  my  play. 
She — believes  in  it.  She  thinks  it  is — a  great 
drama.  It  will  go  on  as  it  is — as  I  want  it — no 
truckling  to  vulgar,  ignorant  managers  and 
waiting  months  and  years  for  their  notice,  and 
having  them  weigh  it  by  the  number  of  laughs 
there  are  to  a  scene — good  God !  It  is  going  on 
whole,  right,  beautifully  produced,  because  one 
woman  cares  for  pure  art  and  isn't  afraid  to 
stand  by  it.  My  life  has  begun,  at  last !" 

They  exclaimed,  they  wanted  to  rejoice  with 
him,  but  Ralston  in  his  exaltation  was  curiously 


96    THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS 

aloof,  as  though  during  his  years  of  struggle 
they  had  not  had  adequate  faith.  Mrs.  Gage 
was  presently  remorseful  that  she  had  not  long 
ago  herself  found  means  to  back  a  production. 

"But  I  thought  you  had  to  have  a  manager," 
she  said  in  troubled  apology. 

"So  you  do,  but  we  shall  hire  him,"  was  the 
unrelenting  answer.  "We  shall  get  the  best 
talent  available — you  can  do  anything  with 
money.  And  we  begin  right  away,  to-morrow — 
that  is  the  joy  of  it !"  His  eyes  again  swept  the 
little  room  as  though  he  saw  the  last  of  it. 
"Wagner  would  never  have  got  where  he  did  if 
one  woman  hadn't  believed  in  him,"  he  declared. 

Mrs.  Gage  could  not  quite  stand  it.  "Your 
mother  has  always  believed  in  you,  Rawly,"  she 
said,  a  tremble  in  her  voice.  He  was  startled, 
suddenly  made  to  realize  that  these,  after  all, 
were  not  the  doubting  world  which  he  was  about 
to  punish,  but  the  faithful,  helpless  few  who 
had  done  what  they  could.  He  kissed  his 
mother. 

"You  have  been  a  trump,  always,"  he  said 
with  an  endearing  touch  of  boyishness.  "And 


THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS     97 

the  girls  have  been  very  patient  and  kind.  I 
don't  forget  it.  Some  day  I  shall  read  you  the 
play." 

"Why  not  to-night,  dear?"  suggested  Mrs. 
Gage.  "I  am  sure  we  can't  any  of  us  sleep." 

Ralston  consulted  his  mood  and  found  no  ob- 
jection, so  they  settled  themselves  to  listen: 
Sabra  with  a  pad  and  pencil  in  case  she  wished 
to  note  comments,  Chloe  curled  down  on  a  stool 
with  her  face  reverently  uptilted  to  pure  art, 
Mrs.  Gage  with  hands  folded  over  her  darning 
and  already  in  her  kind,  tired  eyes  the  perfect 
satisfaction  that  she  would  express  at  the  end. 

But  no  one,  however  devoted,  could  listen 
quite  as  Mrs.  Cartaret  had,  in  silken  grace,  her 
stillness  taking  on  a  poetic  intensity  as  the 
drama  mounted.  Her  house,  like  herself,  had 
been  hushed.  A  quiet  command,  "I  am  not  to 
be  interrupted  for  anything,"  had  shut  out  bells 
and  steps.  The  beautiful  room  had  taken  on 
the  sacred  seclusion  of  a  temple,  and  no  word 
lost  a  shade  of  its  effect.  In  his  graceless  home 
the  telephone,  of  course,  burst  in.  Chloe  stole 
to  answer  it,  then  summoned  her  mother,  who 


98    THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS 

apparently  held  a  committee  meeting  over  the 
wire.  She  came  back  apologetic,  yet  alert  with 
other  interests. 

"I  am  so  sorry,  Ralston,  but  it  was  Mrs.  Van 
Dusen  about  the  Babies'  Outings.  We  have  been 
given — but  I  will  tell  you  later.  Go  on,  dear." 

Ralston  brought  down  his  eyes,  which  had 
been  seeking  patience  on  the  ceiling.  The  scene 
was  dark  with  coming  disaster,  but  Mrs.  Gage 
still  smiled  to  herself  over  good  news.  At  its 
close  Sabra  made  a  swift,  scratchy  note.  It 
sounded  like  a  criticism  and  Ralston  paused 
with  politely  inquiring  eyebrows,  but  she  only 
nodded. 

"Go  on.  We  will  talk  about  it  afterward," 
she  said. 

Ralston  finished  his  first  act  and  by  a  pause 
invited  comment,  but  no  one  spoke.  Chloe, 
though  still  reverent,  was  looking  puzzled ;  Mrs. 
Gage's  hands  had  mechanically  taken  up  her 
darning.  He  went  on,  but  his  voice  grew  flat, 
strained.  He  offered  the  speeches  baldly,  too 
proud  to  curry  favor  by  clothing  them  with  ex- 
pression. Mrs.  Gage  occasionally  lost  a  word 
and  asked  to  have  it  repeated,  not  dreaming 


THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS     99 

how  that  exasperated.  When  Billy's  kitten 
came  into  the  room  and  Chloe  held  out  beckon- 
ing fingers  to  it,  Ralston  made  a  cold  pause,  as 
though  to  say,  "When  your  attention  is  quite 
free — "  But  Chloe,  knowing  little  of  authors, 
did  not  catch  the  rebuke,  and  seized  the  moment 
to  gather  up  the  kitten  into  her  lap.  Ralston 
resignedly  went  on,  and  tried  not  to  see  that  her 
fingers  played  with  the  little  beast.  He  was 
coming  to  his  big  scene  and  in  spite  of  obstacles 
the  emotional  suspense  was  rising  like  a  tide 
when  Sabra's  cool,  efficient  voice  broke  in : 

"One  minute,  Ralston.  Do  you  intend  there 
to  convey  the  effect — " 

The  manuscript  was  slammed  shut.  "Oh, 
good  lord !"  he  burst  out.  "If  you  don't  get  the 
effect  without  explanations,  what  is  the  sense 
of  reading  it  to  you?" 

"But  if  an  intelligent  listener  is  not  certain 
of  your  intention,  wouldn't  it  be  well  to  make 
it  a  little  clearer?"  Sabra  argued  with  perfect 
good  temper.  "However,  we  can  talk  of  that 
later.  I  realize  that  I  should  not  have  inter- 
rupted." 

"Go  on,  dear.    I  must  know  what  she  does," 


100  THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS 

his  mother  urged,  and  Ralston,  with 'a  sigh  for 
lost  inspiration,  drearily  finished  the  act. 

"That  is  enough  for  to-night,"  he  said.  "I  am 
too  tired  to  read  the  last  act." 

"I  am  sure  it  is  very  powerful  and  unusual," 
said  Mrs.  Gage.  "And  when  you  get  real  peo- 
ple doing  it  and  all — it  seems  to  me  every  bit  as 
good  as  the  Henry  Arthur  Jones  play  we  went 
to  together." 

Ralston  slightly  shivered.  "Oh — Jones!"  he 
murmured. 

"It  is  unusual,"  Sabra  decided.  "Your  mo- 
tive is  strong  and  dramatic,  and  your  man  is 
well  done."  Sabra  never  offered  an  opinion; 
she  stated  a  truth.  The  softening,  "I  may  be 
wrong,"  or,  "It  seems  to  me,"  did  not  accord 
with  her  mental  processes.  "But  your  woman 
is  not  sound.  In  the  scene  where  I  was  incon- 
siderate enough  to  interrupt,  she  would  not  have 
taken  just  that  attitude.  That  is  a  man's  idea 
of  a  woman,  not  a  real  woman.  A  man 
always — " 

"If  she  didn't  take  that  attitude,  there  would 
be  no  play,"  said  Ralston,  rising.  "Thank  you 
all  for  listening.  You  have  been  most  patient." 


THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS  101 

He  was  too  depressed,  body  and  soul,  to  be  sar- 
castic very  successfully,  and  his  mother  an- 
swered with  simple  literalness. 

"It  has  been  a  great  pleasure,  dear  boy.  And 
I  have  got  a  whole  pile  of  dull  mending  done. 
You  couldn't  let  me  take  the  last  act?  I  shall 
be  wondering  all  night  if  it  has  a  happy 
ending." 

The  phrase  was  unlucky.  Ralston  raised  pro- 
testing hands  to  the  God  of  pure  art.  "Oh, 
happy  ending — happy  ending !  Shall  we  never 
be  rid  of  that  bogy?  Why  should  it  end  hap- 
pily? Life  doesn't.  Nobody  dies,  if  that  is 
what  you  mean.  It  leaves  them  going  on  as  best 
they  can,  as  maimed  people  must."  He  gave  her 
the  typewritten  sheets.  "Read  it  if  you  like, 
but  for  pity's  sake  don't  talk  to  me  about  it,"  he 
said,  and  went  heavily  to  bed.  Mrs.  Gage  was 
depressed. 

"It  is  hard  to  say  just  the  right  thing,"  she 
admitted  humbly. 

Chloe,  always  very  tender  of  her  mother's 
feelings,  looked  about  for  cheer.  "The  opening 
night  will  be  fun,"  she  said.  That  proved  a 
healing  thought.  They  began  to  talk  of  curtain 


102  THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS 

calls  and  newspaper  notices,  and  of  the  five 
hundred  thousand  dollars  that  Shenandoah 
had  earned — or  was  it  The  Merry  Widow? 
—and  presently  they  were  entering  Billy's 
name  for  Groton  and  wishing  that  Sereno  Gage 
could  have  known.  Sabra  went  to  bed,  but  Mrs. 
Gage  stayed  up  to  read  the  last  act  to  Chloe. 
She  tried  valiantly  not  to  be  disappointed  over 
the  lack  of  happy  embraces  at  the  close.  Ibsen 
ended  that  way,  she  knew. 

"A  very  powerful  play,"  she  declared. 

"Yes,  very,"  Chloe  assented.  It  mortified  her 
that  she  did  not  seem  to  have  any  real  opinion 
of  her  own.  It  was  so  young,  not  to  know  what 
one  thought!  But  the  play  was,  of  course, 
powerful. 

The  good  news  was  even  better  by  morning. 
The  richness  of  the  opportunity  grew  on  them 
till  the  house  seemed  to  hold  no  other  topic. 
Chloe  had  had  her  secret  doubts  as  to  Ralston's 
talent,  her  moments  of  smothered  impatience 
that  he  did  not  fling  off  his  coat  and  help  them 
by  any  manner  of  honorable  work  when  dis- 
aster was  upon  them.  It  takes  years  and  much 


THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS  103 

forbearance  for  a  woman  to  surmount  the 
ancient  convention  that  man,  whether  fitted  to 
it  or  not,  must  earn  money.  Now  she  saw  how 
small  her  vision  had  been,  and  joy  that  she  had 
never  given  it  words  made  a  very  dear  little 
sister  of  her.  Ralston  stayed  home  all  the 
morning  to  build  cardboard  models  of  his 
scenery,  and  Chloe  painted  charming  paper 
dolls  for  the  characters.  Mrs.  Gage,  seated  by 
the  window  with  a  portfolio  on  her  knee,  looked 
on  with  keen  interest.  She  was  starting  an 
endless  chain  of  ten-cent  pieces  for  the  benefit 
of  a  Diet  Kitchen,  but  the  letters  to  the  ten 
friends  who  in  their  turn  were  each  to  get  ten 
cents  from  ten  friends,  and  so  on  until  the  tens 
overlapped  and  protested,  were  making  slow 
progress. 

"It's  like  a  rainy  Saturday  when  we  were 
children,"  said  Chloe.  "Only  I  was  always  so 
much  littler.  I  had  to  be  awfully  careful  not  to 
get  sent  out  of  the  way." 

"I'm  sure  Sabra  and  Rawly  were  always  very 
nice  to  you,  dear,"  Mrs.  Gage  protested. 

"Well,  they  didn't  let  any  one  else  bully  me," 


104  THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS 

Chloe  admitted  with  a  sigh.  "You  want  the 
heroine  blonde,  don't  you,  Ralston?  And  blue 
eyes?" 

"There!  That  just  shows  the  intelligence  of 
the  public  we  have  to  write  for,"  Ralston  said 
disgustedly.  "Blonde  and  blue  eyes — baby  doll 
— for  a  woman  who  faces  a  crisis  like  that !" 

"But  having  her  husband  grow  tired  of  her 
wouldn't  necessarily  change  the  color  of  her 
hair,"  Chloe  persisted,  paint  brush  suspended. 
"And  the  public  likes  them  blonde." 

"The  public  be — blowed.  Make  it  a  burnt 
black,  black  with  a  dash  of  auburn  underneath, 
very  straight  and  heavy.  And  long  Chinese 
eyes." 

"I  should  think  he  would  have  got  tired  of 
her,"  said  Chloe,  washing  her  brush.  Oppos- 
ing and  teasing  Ralston  was  not  usually  so  safe, 
and  she  enjoyed  her  daring. 

"It  was  a  case  of  pearls  before  swine:  a 
woman  of  mystery  and  distinction  wasted  on  a 
fat-necked  business  man,"  he  explained.  "She 
would  have  held  a  man  like  Trevelyan  all  her 
life,  if  she  had  been  free  to  go  to  him." 

"'Held/"  Chloe  repeated,  carefully  remov- 


THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS  105 

ing  a  dimple  from  the  heroine's  cheek.  "We  say 
that  of  people  in  fiction,  but  we  never  think  of 
mother  having  'held'  father,  do  we?" 

Mrs.  Gage  looked  up  in  mild  surprise.  "Oh, 
my  dear,  we  were  too  busy  to  think  of  such 
things,"  she  said  simply.  "But  to  the  end  of 
his  life  your  father  did  like  a  pretty  woman," 
she  added  with  a  touch  of  pride.  Chloe  looked 
into  her  face,  so  seamed  and  withered,  with  the 
tenderness  of  her  own  great  secret  in  her  eyes. 
She  must  love  Alex  like  that — so  that  in  her 
aged  plainness  she  could  take  an  amused  pride 
in  his  liking  for  a  pretty  woman. 

"There  is  no  'holding'  about  that.  It  is  'be- 
longing,' one  to  the  other,  forever  and  ever," 
she  realized.  "Perhaps  it  was  being  so  busy 
that  did  it.  People  in  plays  always  have  so 
much  spare  daytime!" 

"I  suppose  the  unhappy  Trevelyan  must  look 
like  a  boy  poet  on  cleaning  day  with  somebody 
using  the  telephone,"  she  said  aloud,  with 
wicked  intent. 

Ralston  shot  a  glance  of  surprise  at  the  lit- 
tle sister,  usually  veiled  and  silent  in  her  home 
as  some  young  nun. 


106  THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS 

"What  has  got  into  you  this  morning?"  he 
demanded. 

"I  think  I  am  growing  up,"  was  the  demure 
answer.  "It  has  been  coming  for  some  time, 
but  I  have  waited  to  be  sure.  It's  awfully  hard, 
you  know,  when  one  is  so  much  smaller  and 
younger." 

"Well,  if  you  are  going  to  be  one  of  those 
women  who  find  everything  funny,  you'd  better 
have  stayed  as  you  were,"  Ralston  objected, 
frowning  at  the  chateau  front  he  was  adjusting. 
He  found  family  life  quite  trying  enough  with- 
out a  new  and  aggressive  Chloe  to  reckon  with. 
A  few  weeks  ago  the  snub  would  have  de- 
pressed her;  it  was  curious  how  love  was  em- 
boldening her,  setting  her  free  to  be  herself. 

"Don't  worry.  Cleaning  day  with  a  boy  poet 
will  never  seem  really  funny  to  me,"  she  said. 
"Ralston,  if  the  play  makes  you  very  rich — " 

"You  all  keep  talking  about  the  money,"  he 
broke  in.  "I  wish  you  could  realize  how  little 
that  matters.  We  don't  speak  or  think  of  it, 
Mrs.  Cartaret  and  I.  What  we  are  trying  to 
do  is  so  much  bigger  than  money." 

Mrs.  Gage  drew  breath  for  troubled  speech, 


THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS  107 

then  let  it  go  again  and  signed  a  ten-cent  appeal 
in  silence.  Chloe  tried  to  say  it  for  her. 

"But  it  would  take  a  load  off  mother,  Rawley. 
And  you  know  you  do  like  nice  things  and  good 
service.  You're  getting  them  now,  spending 
your  days  at  Mrs.  Cartaret's ;  you'll  hate  it  like 
fury  if  you  have  to  settle  down  home  again, 
poor  as  ever." 

She  wished  she  had  not  spoken  when  she  saw 
the  look  of  harassed  awakening  in  Ralston's 
face.  He  shrank  physically,  as  though  an  in- 
tolerable and  undreamed-of  future  had  suddenly 
risen  before  him.  Evidently  he  had  not  once 
thought  of  that.  Then  his  wrath  descended 
upon  her :  she  might  have  kept  her  croaking  to 
herself  and  let  a  person  have  a  little  happiness 
undampened.  Of  course,  being  his  sister,  she 
didn't  believe  in  him,  but,  thank  God,  others 
did! 

"But  we  do  believe  in  you,  dear  boy,"  his 
mother  urged,  and  between  them  the  two 
women  soothed  and  reassured  him.  Chloe's 
new-born  audacity  was  put  away  for  the  rest  of 
the  morning ;  but  she  did  not  feel  so  patient  a9 
she  appeared. 


108  THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS 

"Rawley  is  worse  than  a  prima  donna !  I  am 
glad  I  am  going  to  marry  an  electrical  engi- 
neer," she  said  to  herself,  then  flushed  to  her 
hair  lest  the  unwarranted  thought  had  been  in 
some  way  discernible.  Alex  was  not  acting 
like  a  lover ;  it  was  curious,  her  certainty  of  his 
love. 

"And  now,  Chloe — "  Mrs.  Gage's  rising  from 
the  lunch  table  was  like  a  call  to  arms — "let  us 
go  out  and  complete  the  fund.  Don't  you  think 
that  will  be  a  fine  way  to  celebrate  Rawly's 
good  news?" 

Chloe,  stricken  into  misery,  dropped  limp 
hands  and  looked  up  appealingly.  "Oh,  mother, 
no !"  she  breathed. 

"Hasn't  it  got  to  be  done,  dear?" 

"But  it  is  too  horrible,  to  ask  for  it !"  Chloe's 
face  burned  a  sudden  red. 

Mrs.  Gage  was  evidently  not  unprepared  for 
the  protest. 

"Because  a  thing  is  hard,  is  that  any  reason 
for  not  doing  it?"  she  asked  in  kindly  reproof. 
"A  good  many  hard  things  have  been  done  for 
you,  Chloe.  It  wasn't  just  chance  that  gave  you 


THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS  109 

all  those  years  at  the  best  private  school  in  the 
city.  Isn't  it  your  turn  to  help  ?" 

There  was  a  long  silence  while  she  waited  for 
that  to  sink  in.  Then  Chloe  rose  slowly  to  her 
feet. 

"You  can  always  prove  it  to  me,  and  yet  I 
can't  seem  to  feel  it ;"  she  was  fumbling  for  the 
difficult  words.  "You  have  all  talked  me  down 
all  my  life,  but  you  have  never  changed  me. 
Perhaps  I  am  only  lazy  and  selfish  and  coward- 
ly and  want  to  get  out  of  hard  things,  as  you 
say.  Well,  till  I  can  prove  it  isn't  so — that  what 
I  feel  is  really  right — I  think  I  ought  to  do  your 
way.  I'll  get  my  things."  And  she  was  gone 
before  Mrs.  Gage  could  answer. 

"What  has  come  over  the  child?"  she  ex- 
claimed, as  bewildered  as  though  Billy  had 
spoken  to  her  in  a  strange  tongue. 

Mrs.  Gage  thought  best  to  ignore  Chloe's  out- 
burst, and  gave  her  a  list  of  people  to  see  with 
a  few  matter-of-course  directions.  Chloe  took 
it  without  comment,  but,  after  she  had  gone,  the 
set  whiteness  of  her  face  troubled  her  mother. 
She  wavered,  half  inclined  to  run  after  the 
poor  little  soul  and  let  her  off. 


110  THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS 

"But  she  has  got  to  learn,"  she  acknowledged, 
and  set  out  almost  too  heavy-hearted  to  do  her 
own  part. 

Late  in  the  afternoon  they  met  again  at  the 
home  corner,  coming  from  opposite  directions, 
Mrs.  Gage  striding  as  though  she  carried  a 
banner,  Chloe  with  a  gleam  of  unrighteous  joy 
showing  through  an  air  of  decent  regret. 

"I  did  my  very  best,  mother,"  she  cried  at 
once,  "and  I  couldn't  see  a  single  person  on  that 
list !  They  were  nearly  all  out  of  town,  except 
when  they  were  ill.  They  expected  Mr.  Gard- 
ener in,  so  I  waited  and  waited — I  haven't 
shirked.  And  then  he  telephoned  that  he  wasn't 
coming."  She  threw  an  arm  about  her  mother, 
laughing  into  her  shoulder.  "I  couldn't  help  it, 
could  I?" 

Mrs.  Gage  smiled  down  indulgently  into  the 
wicked  face.  "Well,  dear,  it  didn't  matter,  for 
I  have  had  tremendous  luck.  We  needn't  raise 
any  more." 

"Whee !"  Chloe's  squeal  would  have  drawn  a 
crowd  in  a  more  conventional  part  of  town. 
"Oh,  mother,  you  are  an  old  brick!  How  on 
earth  did  you  do  it?" 


THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS  111 

Mrs.  Gage,  after  a  rather  futile  afternoon, 
had  had  the  luck  to  meet  a  wealthy  connection 
from  Rochester  on  the  street.  "Of  course,  I 
had  thought  of  Cousin  Anna,  but  there  is  not 
much  use  writing  to  people  when  you  want 
money,"  she  explained.  "Face  to  face  is  the 
only  way — remember  that,  dear.  She  was  im- 
mensely interested,  and  gave  me  a  check  for  the 
balance  then  and  there.  A  very  public-spirited 
woman,  Chloe.  I  wish  she  lived  nearer." 

"Oh,  I'm— so— glad!"  Chloe  breathed. 
"Mother,  isn't  life  perfectly  beautiful !" 

Mrs.  Gage  answered  with  an  unexpected  sigh. 
"Things  are  going  so  well,  it  half  frightens 
me,"  she  admitted. 

It  did  not  frighten  Chloe.  The  accumulated 
good  news  was  too  great  to  be  held  in.  Ralston 
had  demanded  absolute  secrecy  about  the  play, 
implying  darkly  that  a  word  might  burst  the 
lovely  bubble,  but  Chloe,  finding  him  at  home, 
begged  permission  to  tell  Alex. 

"He  never  repeats  anything,"  she  urged.  "He 
will  be  so  pleased." 

Ralston's  excitement  had  come  to  its  inevit- 
able reaction.  "Oh,  relatives  never  care,"  he 


112  THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS 

said  moodily.  "They  are  glad  if  you  fail.  They 
have  known  you  all  your  life,  therefore  you 
can't  be  any  good." 

"It's  natural,"  Chloe  excused  them.  "Don't 
you  remember  when  I  came  back  from  Europe, 
and  Uncle  Harry  saw  me  on  the  street?  'Why, 
that's  a  pretty  girl — oh,  no,  it  isn't,  it's 
Chloe !' "  She  laughed,  loving  Uncle  Harry  and 
all  his  ways.  "Alex  has  invented  something  to 
do  with  a  dynamo,  but  I  don't  believe  you  would 
take  much  stock  in  it,"  she  added. 

The  put-yourself-in-his-place  admonition  al- 
ways annoyed  Ralston.  He  had  been  born  feel- 
ing himself  something  special  and  set  apart,  one 
of  nature's  princes,  to  whom  the  leveling  ad- 
vice could  not  apply;  and  yet,  when  others  did 
not  recognize  this,  he  had  no  means  of  assert- 
ing it. 

"Oh,  tell  him  if  you  like,"  he  said,  turning 
away. 

Chloe  had  been  longing  for  some  such  oppor- 
tunity. She  and  her  father  both  knew  that 
Alex  loved  her ;  why  should  the  lovely  spring  go 
by,  wasted?  Alex's  bad  temper  must  vanish  if 
they  came  together  again,  and  Chloe,  brave  and 


THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS  113 

bright  in  her  new  power,  meant  to  have  no  more 
nonsense. 

"Stupid  boy,  staying  away!"  she  silently 
scolded  him  as  she  straightened  her  hat  over 
laughing  eyes.  She  could  intercept  him  on  his 
way  home  if  she  hurried.  It  was  Billy's  hour 
for  saying  good  night  to  his  grandfather,  but 
for  once  Chloe  did  not  want  her  little  boy.  She 
slipped  out  uncaught. 

Alex  would  pass  the  statue,  so  she  went  out 
to  the  peaceful  little  island  in  the  traffic,  whence 
she  could  watch  both  sidewalks.  A  girl  could 
wait  unnoticed  in  this  shabby  old  corner  of  the 
town.  Neighbors,  passing,  greeted  her  with 
city  gaiety.  The  world  was  hot  and  dusty,  tired 
with  the  day's  work,  but  the  jest  and  the  laugh 
accompanied  homing  feet  like  an  organ  grind- 
er's tune.  A  horse  balked,  and  the  entire  street 
stopped  to  grin  and  to  help.  Two  taxicabs 
grazed  wheels,  and  their  chauffeurs,  polite 
backs  to  their  fares,  rolled  eyes  and  puffed 
cheeks  at  each  other  over  the  eternal  joke  of 
the  close  shave.  A  truckman  and  a  teamster 
bawled  witticisms  across  the  traffic.  They 
could  all  be  savage  enough  on  provocation ;  but 


114  THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS 

meanwhile  they  were  gay,  the  city  wine  bub- 
bling in  their  veins,  and  touchingly  patient 
under  difficulties,  and  Chloe,  city  child  that  she 
was,  felt  a  joyous  tremor  of  response  to  the 
rough  fellowship.  No  doubt  evil  and  despair 
stalked  the  streets,  but  it  was  the  kindness  and 
the  laughter  that  one  saw. 

"My  city — "  an  inarticulate  song  was  stream- 
ing through  her  heart ;  "My  city — my  father — 
my  love — " 

Her  love  was  coming.  Chloe  watched  him 
with  a  quick  rising  of  possessive  pride.  She 
longed  to  point  him  out  to  the  whole  street: 
"See,  that  is  my  Alex !  Isn't  he  splendid !  Look 
at  the  strength  of  him.  Did  you  ever  see  such 
blue  eyes  ?  And  his  hair  isn't  red — it's  a  warm 
brown.  He  is  so  fine  and  able,  and  yet  such 
fun!  Oh,  you  don't  know!  He  looks  sad  and 
stern  to-night,  but  that's — watch  him  now, 
when  I  speak  to  him !" 

She  went  to  meet  him,  but  she  had  to  say  his 
name  before  he  was  aware  of  her.  Then  the 
whole  street  might  have  seen  that  he  started; 
but  the  greeting  that  followed  seemed  to 
deny  it. 


THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS  115 

"Oh,  hello,  Chloe!"  It  was  the  friendly 
cousin  of  all  her  life  who  spoke,  not  the  lover 
she  had  been  building  up.  Chloe  had  no  time 
to  see  how  badly  she  was  hurt.  She  was  too 
busy  being  even  more  cousinly  than  he. 

"Hello,  Alex.  I  was  waiting  for  you.  I  have, 
something  to  tell  you,  something  perfectly 
great.  Come  down  here  where  it  is  quieter." 

They  turned  into  a  side  street,  and  Chloe, 
very  blithe  and  blooming,  told  of  Mrs.  Car- 
taret's  splendid  act  and  of  the  family  glory  to 
come  when  poor  old  Rawly,  at  last,  got  his 
chance.  The  tale  demanded  enthusiasm,  but 
Alex  heard  it  with  lowered  eyes  and  a  grim 
mouth. 

"It  is  going  to  be  a  stunning  production,"  she 
insisted,  and  piled  it  up  for  him,  but  could  get 
no  response.  "You  might  at  least  be  a  little 
glad  for  Ralston,  Alex,"  she  reproached  him. 
Then  there  was  an  explosion: 

"Lord  God,  what  that  man  won't  take !" 

Chloe  recoiled,  her  face  paling.  "Why 
shouldn't  he  take — " 

"Why  shouldn't  he  hold  up  a  woman  who  has 
no  one  to — "  Alex  broke  off,  to  go  on  more 


116  THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS 

gently,  though  all  his  physical  being  was  still 
angrily  stiffened.  "Look  here,  Chloe,  we've  got 
to  have  this  thing  out.  I've  dodged  as  long  as 
I  can.  Now  I'm  going  to  say  everything  I  feel, 
once  for  all." 

They  had  turned  away  from  home  into  a 
street  of  dingy  warehouses,  already  shuttered 
for  the  night.  In  the  sudden  stillness,  the 
gaunt  walls  closed  about  them  like  some  dread- 
ful court  room  where  sentence  was  to  be  pro- 
nounced. Chloe  tried  to  fight  off  the  oppres- 
sion. 

"You  always  object  to  everything,"  she  flung 
at  him;  "but  I  thought  even  you  would  be 
pleased  at  this.  Why  can't  Mrs.  Cartaret  do 
what  she  likes  with  her  own  money?" 

He  ignored  her  tone.  "I'll  tell  you  why. 
Helena  Cartaret  is  without  question  a  lovely 
lady ;  the  only  thing  she  lacks  is  brains.  She  is 
no  more  capable  of  judging  the  value  of  a  play 
than  Billy  is.  To  let  her  back  it  without  some 
cool,  outside  endorsement  is  plain  highway 
robbery.  Ralston  may  be  the  greatest  genius 
of  the  age,  but  he  hasn't  given  any  convincing 
sign  of  it  yet  and  he  has  had  no  stage  experi- 


THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS  117 

ence.  And  she  isn't  a  very  rich  woman. 
Twenty  or  thirty  thousand  dollars  will  matter 
to  her.  How  are  you  all  going  to  feel  if  it  is  a 
flat  failure?" 

The  ground  seemed  to  be  dropping  away 
under  Chloe's  feet ;  but  she  clung  to  her  anger. 
"Suppose  she  wanted  to  back  your  dynamo 
thing — wouldn't  you  let  her?" 

"No!"  He  almost  shouted  it.  "Not  if  she 
knew  the  whole  subject  and  could  judge  its 
value  for  herself.  A  woman  in  her  position 
hasn't  any  way  to  replace  her  money.  The  man 
who  gambles  with  it  gambles  with  her  whole 
life's  freedom.  How  any  one  with  a  spark  of 
decency  can  take  it — " 

"Nearly  every  successful  artist  has !  Look  at 
Wagner — " 

"Oh,  'look  at  Wagner'!  Every  year  some 
lovely  lady  looks  at  Wagner,  and  as  a  result 
some  good-for-nothing  fellow  with  a  half  talent 
is  dawdling  and  drinking  in  Paris  at  her  ex- 
pense. 'Look  at  Wagner !'  That's  the  war-cry 
of  every  gifted  loafer  who  doesn't  feel  like 
earning  his  own  chance." 

"But  Ralston  couldn't  earn  his  own  chance — - 


do  be  fair,  Alex !"  she  cried.  "You  don't  under- 
stand what  he  is.  An  office  would  be  death  for 
him." 

"Yes:  he'd  be  bored  to  death.  I  mean  it, 
literally,"  he  insisted  at  her  angry  start.  "He 
has  decided  from  the  first  that  he  was  to  sing 
for  his  supper;  to  have  to  drudge  for  it,  now, 
like  other  men — he  would  fall  ill  and  die  of 
sheer  exasperation.  Well,  he  will  never  have 
to.  There  will  always  be  some  woman  to  carry 
him  on." 

They  had  reached  the  end  of  the  block,  and 
turned  slowly  back.  "But  you  are  putting 
money  above  everything  else!"  Chloe  spoke 
the  word  "money"  with  young  contempt,  but 
he  answered  patiently: 

"Ah,  Chloe,  wait  till  you  have  had  to  earn  a 
living — just  a  living  for  one  person :  pile  it  up 
day  by  day,  get  a  little  ahead,  then  have  an 
illness  or  an  accident,  pay  it  all  out  and  begin 
over  again,  and  all  the  time  know  that  the  day 
will  come  when  you  can't  work — try  that,  and 
then  you  will  say  'money'  in  a  different  tone. 
That's  the  common  lot,  Toto,  for  the  average 
man  or  woman  who  doesn't  live  on  some  one 


LTHE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS  119 

else.  Oh,  it  isn't  that  I  don't  see  the  bigness  of 
art,  compared  to  money.  And  real  talent  has 
often  got  to  be  helped — I'll  grant  that.  What  I 
can't  stand  is  seeing  the  help  worked  out  of  soft 
and  sentimental  ignorance.  Suppose  Ralston 
has  great  talent ;  let  him  get  the  endorsement  of 
competent  judges  before — " 

"But  Sothern  nearly  took  a  play  of  his,  you 
know  that,"  she  burst  in. 

"Well,  he  kept  it  several  months  and  wrote  a 
delightful  letter  of  rejection.  Oh,  Chloe,  I  want 
you  to  see  this  thing  as  it  is !"  They  stopped, 
unaware  of  the  blank  street  about  them.  "It 
has  always  come  between  us.  Your  father  was 
a  great  man,  and  the  world  was  so  appreciative 
of  him  that  it  has  half  ruined  his  other  children. 
You  came  a  little  too  late,  thank  heaven,  but 
you  are  so  loyal  to  your  family  that  even  you — 
Toto,  it's  the  most  insidious  danger  in  the 
world,  to  learn  to  take!"  He  had  clasped  her 
arm,  and  his  eyes  were  calling  on  her  for  a 
great  decision.  "You  can't  do  it  indefinitely 
and  not  be  corrupted,  not  begin  to  think  what 
you  can  get  out  of  every  person  and  every  situa- 
tion. And  it  makes  you  the  under-dog — Chloe, 


120  THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS 

Chloe,  you  needn't  tell  me  you  didn't  cringe  and 
suffer  when  you  set  out  to  raise  that  money,  the 
other  day!  That  suffering  was  your  warning; 
but  you  can  wear  it  down  if  you  keep  on." 

"I  hated  and  loathed  it,"  she  cried.  "Nothing 
was  ever  so  horrible !  But  they  thought  I  was 
selfish  and  cowardly,  not  willing  to  do  my  share. 
Hard  things  had  been  done  for  me !  What  was 
the  answer  to  that?" 

"The  answer  was  that  you  would  earn  it  with 
your  two  hands  before  you  would  go  out  and 
beg  for  it !  What  right  had  you  to  the  earnings 
of  others?  Dearest,  don't  take  any  more — re- 
fuse !  Don't  join  in  on  the  family  graft !" 

The  last  word  was  fatal.  Chloe,  hurt  beyond 
bearing,  flung  off  his  touch.  "You  have  no 
right  to  call  it  that!" 

For  the  first  time  he  lost  his  self-command. 
"Don't  you  suppose  that  others  do  ?  Chloe,  it's 
a  byword,  it's  a  joke — the  Gage  way !  Oh,  I  see 
your  mother's  fineness,  but,  for  all  that,  she  is 
the  grandest  old  grafter — " 

"Stop !"  The  word  crashed  like  a  stone,  and 
then  they  stood  looking  at  each  other  with 


THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS  121 

hard,  strange  eyes,  knowing  that  something  lay 
dead  between  them.  "If  that  is  the  way  you 
see  us,  there  is  nothing  more  to  be  said,"  she 
rushed  on.  "My  mother  is  the  biggest  person  I 
have  ever  known.  When  you  are  big  enough  to 
understand  her,  you  can  come  back  and  apolo- 
gize. Till  then — "  A  sob  rose,  sucking  all  the 
breath  out  of  her  body.  "Oh,  I  never  want  to 
see  you  again!"  she  cried,  and  went  swiftly 
away. 

For  perhaps  the  first  time  in  her  grown  life, 
Chloe  passed  her  father's  statue  with  no  con- 
sciousness of  its  presence.  Her  feet  took  her 
home,  but  she  saw  and  heard  nothing  until  from 
an  open  window  a  voice  of  husky  relief  shouted 
her  name.  Billy  had  seen  his  Toto's  vanishing 
hat  and  known  himself  deserted,  and  his  broad 
face  was  sodden  with  tears,  but  already,  at 
sight  of  her,  a  forgiving  light  was  dawning. 

"I'm  here,  Toto,"  he  faltered. 

Hearts  may  break  and  kingdoms  fall,  but 
babies  must  be  comforted.  Toto  put  away  self, 
sorrowfully  kissing  the  grieved  face,  and  hand 
in  hand  they  made  the  nightly  pilgrimage. 


122  THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS 

"Toto  ran  away  from  me,  but  she  corned 
back,"  Billy  told  his  grandfather  with  a  linger- 
ing hiccough. 

The  level  sunbeams  threw  a  dim  glory  on  the 
sculptured  face :  Sereno  Gage  might  have  been 
uttering  some  fine  old  reassurance  beginning 
with,  "Inasmuch — "  Chloe  did  not  get  the  mes- 
sage, but  the  little  boy's  clinging  hand  made 
life  more  bearable. 


CHAPTER  Y 

CHLOE  had  made  her  choice,  had  cast  in 
her  lot  with  her  family.  For  them  she  had 
put  away  love  and  denied  the  deepest  instinct 
of  her  being,  and  there  was  no  hour  in  the 
bitter  days  that  followed  when  she  would  not 
have  done  the  same;  yet  never  had  she  felt  so 
alien  to  them,  or  so  longed  to  get  away.  She 
could  die  for  her  family,  but  it  was  borne  in 
upon  her  that  she  could  not  eternally  live  with 
them. 

The  yacht  became  her  hope  now,  the  promise 
of  escape,  and  she  waited  for  the  summons  as 
she  had  waited  for  Alex.  The  day  it  came,  she 
flew  about  the  house  like  a  young  whirlwind. 
A  noisy  Chloe  was  something  new,  and  Mrs. 
<Gage  glowed  with  approval. 

"Chloe  hasn't  had  enough  young  life,"  she 
confided  to  Sabra.  "We  don't  realize  how  Billy 
has  tied  her  down.  I  am  so  glad  you  can  take 
123 


124  THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS 

him  for  her,  dear.  I  should  have  loved  to  if  I 
weren't  pledged  to  the  Diet  Kitchen." 

Sabra  looked  up  from  a  club  register  she 
was  studying.  "It  is  a  pity  his  class  stops,"  she 
said.  "If  Lizzie  were  more  willing — " 

"Well,  she  will  have  a  good  deal  of  work,  with 
Chloe  away,"  Mrs.  Gage  admitted.  "Besides, 
she  isn't  kind  to  Billy — it  wouldn't  do.  But  I 
can  nearly  always  take  him  after  three.  And 
he  will  be  a  nice  rest  for  you,  dear;  you  have 
done  so  much  public  work." 

Sabra  started  to  speak,  but  the  sound  of 
Chloe's  light  feet  on  the  stairs  closed  her  lips. 
Presently  she  put  away  the  register,  together 
with  a  bundle  of  time  tables  that  she  had  been 
looking  over. 

"Pleasure  seems  so  unimportant  when  you 
have  put  your  shoulder  to  real  work,"  she  said, 
rising.  "I  have  called  a  special  board  meeting, 
mother ;  I  may  be  kept  late." 

Mrs.  Gage  looked  apprehensive.  "Is  it  about 
putting  on  that  dreadful  play?"  she  asked, 
rather  timidly. 

"Paternity  is  a  very  great  play;"  Sabra 
began  from  a  height,  but  went  on  more  human- 


tTHE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS  125 

ly :  "And  if  it  doesn't  go  on  under  our  auspices, 
the  medical  or  some  other  society  will  pro- 
duce it." 

"Well,  dear,  why  not  let  them — " 
"A  Eugenics  Society  can't  shirk  the  funda- 
mental truths,"  Sabra  interrupted.  "But  of 
course  the  board  will  do  as  it  thinks  best;  the 
chairman  has  no  opinion."  And  she  went  out 
serene  and  unhurried,  as  one  who  runs  big 
affairs  must. 

It  proved  a  stormy  meeting,  for  one  member 
had  burned  her  copy  of  Paternity  with  the 
tongs,  and  another  was  for  having  it  introduced 
into  the  public  schools,  and  those  who  had  chil- 
dren were  inclined  to  snub  those  who  had  not, 
and  only  Sabra  could  have  told  from  the  be- 
ginning how  they  would  Tc^e.  When  the  ma- 
jority had  realized  that  the  play  would  turn  the 
indispensable  lime-light  on  the  Society,  and  the 
agitated  minority  had  been  silenced  by  a  timely 
putting  of  the  question,  Sabra  cleared  the 
atmosphere  with  a  piece  of  pleasant  news.  A 
number  of  western  clubs  had  expressed  a  desire 
to  entertain  a  member  of  the  Eugenics  Society 
and  hear  something  of  its  work.  How  the  de- 


126  THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS 

sire  had  risen,  spontaneously,  all  over  the  West 
at  once,  could  only  be  explained  by  the  success- 
ful conference  on  the  eighth  and  the  resulting 
newspaper  notices. 

"Though  it  is  funny  that  they  all  saw  them," 
one  member  observed.  Sabra  tapped  lightly 
for  order. 

"The  next  business  of  the  board  is  to  select 
a  representative,"  she  said.  Of  course,  she  her- 
self was  instantly  and  unanimously  chosen,  but 
she  sat  troubled  and  downcast  before  the 
tribute.  "There  are  reasons  why  I  can  not 
accept,"  she  told  them.  "I  must  beg  you  to  put 
some  one  else  in  my  place." 

They  would  not  hear  of  it,  and  when  they 
had  backed  their  enthusiasm  by  an  appropria- 
tion for  traveling  Skpenses,  at  last  she  lifted 
her  fine  head  and  put  her  hand  to  the  plow. 

"Work  always  means  sacrifice,"  she  said.  "It 
will  not  be  easy  for  me  to  be  away  in  June,  but 
if  you  tell  me  to  go,  I  can  only  obey." 

"I  am  half  afraid  to  let  you  go  out  to  a  suf- 
frage state,"  one  member  objected.  "They  will 
keep  you  and  make  a  senator  of  you."  There 


THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS  127 

was  a  laugh,  but  Sabra's  clear  gaze,  fixed  on 
the  speaker,  seemed  to  widen  and  deepen. 

"Curious!"  she  said.  "This  is  the  second 
time  that  prophecy  has  been  made  to  me.  Old 
Mr.  Harper  Lindsley  made  it,  only  a  few  weeks 
ago:  'Some  day  you  will  be  in  the  United 
States  Senate.' " 

"Well,  I  don't  see  why — "  one  of  them  said. 

"Compared  to  some  of  the  men  who  fill  the 
high  offices!"  another  completed  it.  It  was  a 
jest,  of  course,  and  they  adjourned  smiling,  but 
all  the  way  home  Sabra's  eyes  were  lifted  to 
some  fair  and  distant  prospect. 

With  her  latch-key,  the  look  of  downcast 
trouble  came  out  again.  She  went  in  heavily, 
pausing  at  the  sitting-room  door  that  her  bad 
news  might  precede  her. 

Chloe  was  reading  the  evening  paper  to  her 
mother,  who  lay  back  in  her  chair,  resting  tired 
eyes.  On  Chloe's  work-basket  a  pile  of  net  and 
lace  spoke  of  coming  gaiety.  Slippers  and  their 
new  bows  lay  in  her  lap.  One  of  these  fell  to 
the  floor  as  Sabra's  atmosphere  invaded  the 
room. 


128  THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS 

"Chloe,  I  am  heartbroken,"  Sabra  began.  "I 
can't  keep  my  word  to  you.  I  am  the  servant  of 
my  Society,  and  it  has  voted  to  send  me  West 
for  a  tour  of  the  women's  clubs.  What  can 
I  do?" 

"Now?"  It  was  a  cry  of  distress,  out  of  all 
proportion  to  the  threatened  disappointment. 
Sabra  became  a  little  less  pitiful. 

"Now  is  the  only  possible  time.  Later  the 
club  women  will  be  scattered,  and  in  the 
autumn  there  is  too  much  to  do  here.  I  told 
them  how  hard  it  was  for  me  to  get  away — 
indeed,  I  flatly  refused ;  but  they  would  not  let 
me  off.  And  I  could  not  expect  them  to  put 
looking  after  Billy  above  spreading  our  work 
through  the  whole  West — could  I,  dear?" 

She  was  reasonable  and,  as  always,  right,  but 
Chloe  had  turned  a  sudden  hard  red. 

"You  have  known  you  were  going  all  the 
time!"  she  flung  at  her  amazed  sister.  Never 
in  her  shy  and  reverent  life  had  she  said  or 
thought  anything  like  it.  Of  course,  she  must 
be  wrong;  but  for  the  moment  it  was  the 
dreadful  truth,  and  she  would  say  it.  "You've 
known  it  and  planned  it  and  brought  it  about, 


THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS  129 

and  it  is  as  much  pleasure  to  you  as  the  yacht 
is  to  me.  You're  just  acting  sorry !"  And  she 
ran  out  of  the  room. 

Sabra  was  not  angry;  only  wounded  and 
persistently  reasonable.  "I  tried  my  best  to  get 
out  of  it,"  she  told  her  mother.  "But  I  really 
had  no  right  to,  and  when  they  voted  to  pay  my 
expenses,  what  could  I  do?  Surely  one's  work 
must  come  first!" 

"Certainly,  dear!"  Mrs.  Gage  was  bolt  up- 
right, girded  for  active  measures.  "We  will 
find  a  way.  It  is  a  great  honor  to  you,  Sabra." 

Sabra  put  away  honor.  "Oh4  if  I  can  just  get 
something  done — !  And  I  shall  study  the  suf- 
frage question  out  there.  I  begin  to  feel, 
mother,  that  some  of  my  time  must  go  to  that. 
I  haven't  thoroughly  realized  how  necessary 
the  vote  is  to  my  own  work." 

"Fine,  dear !"  But  Mrs.  Gage  was  only  half 
attending.  "If  I  hadn't  promised  the  Diet 
Kitchen — but  we  will  find  something  to  do 
with  Billy.  Chloe  is  not  going  to  miss  her 
trip !"  A  moment  later  she  started  up.  "Chloe !" 
she  called.  She  had  to  call  a  second  time  before 
a  door  opened  and  a  reluctant  voice  answered. 


130  THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS 

"I  have  thought  of  what  we  can  do!"  Mrs. 
Gage  was  speaking  up  the  stairs  to  the  shadowy 
figure  at  the  top.  "Alice  Murray  is  down  on 
her  Long  Island  place,  and  you  know  how  fond 
she  is  of  Billy.  I'll  ask  her  to  take  him  for  the 
month  of  June.  Her  Mary  is  so  kind,  and  four 
children  are  really  no  more  trouble  than  three. 
I  shall  call  her  up  about  it  right  now." 

Chloe  sat  against  a  leafy  wall,  feeling  again 
the  sting  of  laughing  words:  " — the  Sereno 
Gage  grandchild;  he  is  dumped  down  here 
rather  often — you  know  the  family  way!" 

"No,  mother — no!"  she  exclaimed,  so  hotly 
that  Mrs.  Gage  looked  concerned. 

"It  would  be  all  right,"  she  insisted.  "Alice 
was  devoted  to  your  father  when  she  was  a 
child.  And  Billy  is  such  a  good,  reasonable 
little  fellow." 

Alex's  voice  was  scorching  Chloe  now :  "It's 
a  byword,  it's  a  joke — the  Gage  way!"  She 
came  forward  into 'the  light,  feeling  as  though 
she  lifted  her  hand  to  stab. 

"Mother,  people  criticize  us  for — asking 
things  like  that.  Mrs.  Murray  herself  has  done 


THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS  131 

it — I  heard  her.  They  say  we — take — too 
much." 

The  blow  had  missed.  Mrs.  Gage  was  only 
patient.  "Ah,  people  say  things,  careless  things 
they  don't  half  mean.  We  all  do  it.  The  only 
way  is  to  pay  no  attention  and  do  as  you  would 
be  done  by.  Why,  I  would  take  all  three  of  the 
little  Hurrays  to-morrow,  if  Alice  asked  me." 

"But  that  is  just  it — she  doesn't  ask  you," 
said  Chloe  quickly.  "Oh,  I  know  it  is  no  use; 
you  won't  see.  But  we  can't  ask  that  of  Mrs. 
Murray.  Mother,  we  can't."  The  intensity  of 
her  feeling  could  not  be  ignored.  Mrs.  Gage 
yielded  without  resentment. 

"Whom  shall  we  ask,  then?  I  am  tied  up, 
and  Sabra  can't  help  herself — you  were  not 
quite  just  to  her,  Toto.  And  Lizzie  wouldn't  do 
it,  even  if  she  could.  But  there  must  be  some 
one  who  would  take  him." 

"There  is,"  said  Chloe.  "Will  you  leave  it 
tome?" 

"I  only  want  to  help,  dear !" 

"I  know — I'm  grateful.  But  I  want  to  ar- 
range it  myself.  May  I?" 


132  THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS 

"Yes ;  of  course.  But  if  you  want  help,  I  am 
right  here,  my  little  girl ;"  and  Mrs.  Gage  went 
back  with  a  saddened  realization  that  her  little 
girl  was  growing  up.  Chloe  herself  was  con- 
scious of  new  forces. 

"Was  I  unkind,  father?"  she  asked,  and  felt 
a  homesick  longing  to  exchange  the  shadowy 
presence  for  a  wise,  comforting,  human  reality. 
"Oh,  I  wish  I  were  old,  and  knew  things,  and 
had  done  with  all  this  hurting !"  she  cried. 

In  the  hurried  days  that  followed  Sabra 
asked  no  questions  about  family  arrangements. 
With  her  marvelous  power  of  seeing  just  what 
she  wanted  to,  it  was  doubtful  if  she  remem- 
bered Chloe's  disappointment.  Even  at  parting 
her  clear,  straight  look  held  no  concern.  Mrs. 
Gage  remembered  and  looked  a  daily  question, 
but  kept  her  difficult  silence  till  a  chance  en- 
counter gave  her  the  truth.  She  hurried  home, 
full  of  distress. 

"Why,  Chloe,"  she  exclaimed,  "the  Commo- 
dore says  you  wrote  him  you  couldn't  go.  I  was 
all  ready  to  help  you — I  would  have  found  some 
way !  Why  didn't  you  let  me  ?" 

Love  had  roused  Chloe  to  courage ;  and 


THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS  133 

that  love  was  dead,  she  had  the  courage  of  a 
new  and  devastating  indifference. 

"I  didn't  want  it,  mother ;  not  enough  to  put 
my  work  off  on  some  one  else." 

"But — "  Then  their  eyes  met,  and  the 
familiar  arguments  faltered  before  the  bewild- 
ering discovery  that  they  were  strangers.  Mrs. 
Gage  tried  to  bridge  the  gulf,  but  words  would 
not  come;  she  slowly  turned  away,  looking 
troubled  and  poor  and  very  old.  Chloe  suddenly 
sprang  up,  throwing  impetuous  arms  about  her. 

"I  love  you — better  than  any  one  on  earth," 
she  said  hotly.  "I  have  to  do  my  way,  but  don't 
mind — let  me  work  it  out.  Just  remember  that 
you  are  always  the  biggest  person  in  the  whole 
world  to  me,  and  that  I  love  you.  Don't  ever 
let  me  hurt  you,  mother !" 

The  kind  arms,  feeling  her  sob,  held  her  com- 
fortingly. "Are  you  unhappy,  Toto — bothered 
about  anything?"  Mrs.  Gage  presently  asked. 

Chloe  dried  her  eyes  and  managed  to  smile. 
"Oh,  being  a  girl  is  no  joke,"  she  admitted; 
"but  I  dare  say  one  gets  over  it  in  time." 

The  summer  weeks  trailed  by,  and  Chloe, 
who  had  been  half  frantic  to  escape,  yet  found 


134  THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS 

a  measure  of  relief  in  giving  up  hope  of  any- 
thing better  and  plodding  through  her  days  one 
by  one.  She  lived  like  a  person  who,  after  dis- 
aster, has  closed  all  her  big  house,  confining 
herself  to  one  small,  practical  room.  She  never 
looked  back  to  the  wide,  sunny  days  with  their 
shining  outlook.  Her  anger  had  shut  down, 
hard  and  cold,  against  anything  that  Alex  had 
shared.  Invitations  came,  but  she  steadfastly 
refused  them  until  a  note  from  Mrs.  Cartaret 
begged  her  to  come  down  to  the  Sound  for  a 
week  and  to  bring  Billy. 

"I  shall  love  to  have  a  little  boy  in  the  house," 
she  wrote,  "and  I  have  noticed  that  children 
always  enjoy  a  beach."  Mrs.  Gage's  surprise 
attested  that  the  invitation  had  not  been 
prompted  by  her,  and  Ralston  never  planned 
for  others,  so  she  felt  free  to  accept.  A  bitter 
thought  that  even  Alex  could  not  carp  at  this 
rose,  but  was  thrust  back.  She  would  not  pay 
Alex  the  compliment  of  remembering  his  exist- 
ence. 

The  first  day  it  was  all  joy — the  exquisite 
house,  fresh  and  clean  as  a  sea  shell,  the  salt 
breath  of  the  Sound  coming  up  over  the  rocks, 


THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS  135 

Billy's  happiness  and  his  little  paddling  feet. 
There  were  no  other  guests,  and  Chloe,  who  had 
hoped  for  a  girl  of  her  own  age,  would  have 
been  disappointed  if  she  had  not  realized  some 
wistful  and  lonely  desire  in  the  lovely  lady  of 
the  house.  Mrs.  Cartaret  was  not  simply  being 
kind  to  Ralston's  sister  and  son ;  she  was  shyly 
bent  on  making  friends.  She  came  down  to  the 
sand  where  Chloe  and  Billy  were  piling  up  a 
fort  and  sat  very  upright  on  a  rock  beside  them, 
the  delicate  linen  and  lace  of  her  costume  as 
little  suited  to  the  rugged  spot  as  her  own 
fragrant,  drawing-room  personality  was.  It 
was  impossible  to  picture  Mrs.  Cartaret  as  get- 
ting down  into  sand  or  anything  else,  and  her 
fine  bodily  aloofness  made  her  seem  like  a 
princess  to  Chloe,  with  her  middy  blouse  and 
her  bare,  sandy  arms. 

."I  hope  you  will  let  Caroline  take  the  little 
boy  whenever  you  want  to  be  free,"  Mrs.  Car- 
taret began.  "She  is  fond  of  children;  and  I 
think  they  always  know  when  people  like  them, 
don't  you?" 

Chloe  looked  up  with  the  happiest  smile  that 
her  face  had  shown  in  many  weeks.    "I  pretend 


136  THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS 

I'm  doing  this  to  amuse  Billy,"  she  confessed, 
"but  I  am  having  just  as  much  fun  as  he  is.  I 
don't  think  I  could  outgrow  loving  to  play  with 
sand."  Mrs.  Cartaret  took  up  a  handful,  ex- 
perimentally, then  dusted  her  palm  with  a 
fastidious  handkerchief. 

"He  must  seem  like  your  own  child  to  you," 
she  said.  "Your  mother  has  told  me  how  you 
left  school,  where  you  were  so  happy  and  popu- 
lar, to  take  him.  I  think  that  must  have  been 
quite  hard." 

Chloe  could  look  back  with  a  smile  now  on 
the  secret  despair  of  those  days,  when  she  had 
left  the  bright  school  world  to  struggle  with  a 
three-days-old  baby.  "It's  funny  when  I  see 
any  of  the  girls  now,"  she  said.  "They  seem 
so  young  to  me,  such  puppies,  fairly.  And  then 
suddenly  they  will  seem  so  much  older  than  I, 
so  much  more  experienced,  that  they  make  me 
feel  about  fourteen.  I  suppose,"  she  thought  it 
out,  "Billy  has  made  me  mature — in  spots ;  and 
going  out  has  made  them  sophisticated.  Any- 
way, I  don't  want  the  things  they  want,  one  bit. 
I  couldn't  have  had  them,  anyway,  but  without 
Billy  I  might  have  tried  and  ached.  I  don't 


THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS  137 

think  poor  girls  ought  to  go  to  such  rich  schools, 
Mrs.  Cartaret.  It's  very  lucky  for  me  that 
Billy  happened !" 

Mrs.  Cartaret  sighed,  as  though  sorry  for  all 
young  struggling  creatures.  "I  always  think 
that  heavy  responsibility  is  trying  for  a  young 
girl,"  she  said. 

"Well,  mother  was  ill  that  winter,  and  there 
was  no  one  else  to  take  him."  Chloe  inter- 
rupted Billy's  labors  to  roll  him  over  and  kiss 
him,  and  they  laughed  together,  exchanging  lit- 
tle jokes  in  the  way  of  poking  finger  and  butt- 
ing head.  "He  was  such  a  good  baby,"  she 
added,  looking  up  rumpled  and  shining.  "He 
slept — "  She  paused,  startled  at  the  fixity  of 
the  dark  eyes  under  the  white  parasol.  They 
clung  to  the  little  boy  with  a  troubled  longing, 
a  look  that  seemed  to  mean  agitated  thoughts. 
Chloe  knew  that  Mrs.  Cartaret's  own  son  had 
been  little  comfort  to  her,  a  hard,  self-sufficient, 
successful  young  man  who  had  married  at 
twenty-one  and  removed  his  life  to  Paris  with- 
out so  much  as  forewarning  his  mother,  and, 
believing  that  she  saw  sad  memories,  she  sent 
the  best  cheer  she  knew. 


138  THE  SEED  OF  THE  EIGHTEOUS 

"Billy,"  she  whispered,  "go  softly  and  give 
Mrs.  Cartaret  a  nice  kiss  on  her  hand  for  let- 
ting you  play  on  her  beach."  Billy  rose  at  once, 
went  tiptoe  to  the  lady,  laid  his  baby  lips  to  the 
hand  on  her  knee,  then  rushed  back  to  Toto. 

"I  did  it!    I  did  it!"  he  shouted. 

Mrs.  Cartaret  had  started,  quivered,  then  a 
flush  rose  in  her  shadowed  face  and  her  lovely 
smile  came  out  with  a  gleam  of  tears. 

"You  dear  little  boy!"  she  breathed,  and, 
rising,  walked  away  down  the  beach.  When 
she  came  back  she  had  some  colored  shells  for 
Billy,  and  stole  an  arm  about  him  as  he  leaned 
on  her  knee  to  look  at  them. 

"Your  brother  never  speaks  of — Billy's 
mother,"  she  said  suddenly.  "I  know,  some 
sorrows  are  too  deep  to  be  spoken  of." 

Chloe  had  to  hide  a  movement  of  surprise. 
She  had  not  supposed  that  Ralston  ever  gave  a 
thought  to  poor  Nina  and  their  few  struggling, 
peevish  years  together;  but  one  could  scarcely 
say  that. 

"It  was  sad,"  she  said  generally. 

"Oh,  yes;  oh,  unbearably!"  The  thought  of 
it  seemed  to  clutch  at  Mrs.  Cartaret's  throat. 


THE  SEED  OF  THE  EIGHTEOUS  189 

"We — we  who  are  fond  of  him — we  must  try 
to  make  it  up  to  him,  mustn't  we?  If  there  is 
any  way  we  can?" 

Her  intensity  embarrassed  Chloe.  She  felt 
in  it  an  appeal  that  she  did  not  know  how  to 
answer. 

"I  don't  believe  he  is  unhappy  now,"  she 
ventured.  "He  has  moods — " 

"Ah,  that  is  the  artistic  temperament,"  Mrs. 
Cartaret  broke  in.  "They  say  that  an  artist  is 
both  happier  and  sadder  than  other  people. 
Things  hurt  him  more — you  know  what  I 
mean?" 

"Oh,  I  know,"  Chloe  admitted,  rather  dryly. 
Perhaps  the  other  felt  some  failure  of  sym- 
pathy, for  when  she  spoke  again  it  was  of  a 
drive  they  must  take. 

"I  don't  want  you  to  be  bored,"  she  said,  and 
such  diffidence  in  one  who  had  so  much  to  give 
made  Chloe  very  worshipful. 

"It  is  wonderful  here.  And  to  be  with  you, 
Mrs.  Cartaret — !"  she  said  earnestly,  and  felt 
the  jeweled  hand  on  her  shoulder  a  delicate 
honor  as  they  went  up  to  the  house. 

Mrs.  Cartaret  played  to  her  that  evening, 


140  THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS 

and  her  music  seemed  to  make  a  different  per- 
son of  her;  or,  rather,  to  make  her  that  which 
she  appeared,  but  so  often  fell  short  of  in 
speech.  Chloe,  tears  on  her  cheeks  in  the  dark- 
ened room,  felt  a  surging  impulse  to  kneel 
beside  her  and  cry  out  her  trouble:  "I  have 
lost  love!  Tell  me  how  I  can  go  on  without 
it!"  But,  as  the  music  ceased,  Mrs.  Cartaret 
spoke. 

"I  always  think  that  music  sounds  better  in 
the  dark — have  you  noticed  it?"  she  said,  and 
the  doors  of  Chloe's  secret  were  slammed  shut. 

The  next  day  the  outer  conditions  were  no 
less  charming,  but  Chloe's  joy  in  them  was  be- 
coming difficult  to  maintain.  She  hated  Alex, 
never  saw  or  wished  to  see  him ;  yet  with  shame 
and  anger  she  had  to  learn  that  there  was  no 
peace  for  her  away  from  where  he  was.  A 
homesick  cry,  "I  want  to  go  back !"  sprang  up 
in  unguarded  moments.  Worst  of  all,  she  be- 
gan to  feel  a  fretful  irritation  at  the  most  lovely 
lady  of  the  house.  The  insistent  demand  for 
her  opinion  on  small  or  settled  subjects  where 
opinion  was  not  worth  the  trouble  made  her 
dread  that  at  the  next  earnest,  "Don't  you 


THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS  141 

think?"  she  might  burst  out  with  some  wild 
protest.  Then  she  took  herself  in  hand,  apply- 
ing harsh  names  and  vowing  reform. 

"Toto  is  a  bad  girl,  Billy,"  she  explained  as 
she  washed  his  happy  face  after  the  long  day's 
playing.  "You  will  have  to  scold  her." 

This  was  a  favorite  game.  Toto  had  long  ago 
declared  that  if  she  had  to  do  all  the  bathing 
and  dressing  of  Billy,  he  in  common  fairness 
must  do  all  the  scolding  of  them  both  when 
they  were  naughty.  Billy  did  it  with  uplifted 
forefinger  and  dramatic  intensity,  interrupted 
by  gurgles  of  laughter,  and  the  device  had 
averted  many  a  baby  storm.  Chloe  had  only 
to  say,  "Scold  yourself,  Billy,  good  and  hard !" 
and  Billy  was  instantly  all  on  the  side  of  law 
and  order.  To-night,  however,  he  was  inclined 
to  be  indulgent. 

"What  did  you  do,  Toto?"  he  asked  in  a  com- 
fortable and  gossipy  whisper. 

"I  had  bad,  cross  feelings." 

"Then  Toto  is  tired  and  must  lie  down." 
This  turning  on  her  of  her  own  frequent  decree 
made  her  laugh. 

"All  right,"  she  said  obediently,  and  placed 


142  THE  SEED  OP,  THE  RIGHTEOUS 

herself  on  the  broad  couch.  They  had  a  charm- 
ing big  corner  room,  bright  with  rosy  chintz, 
its  casements  opening  on  the  garden  and  the 
water.  Just  to  lie  looking  about  it,  breathing 
its  scented  purity,  was  enough  to  exorcise  bad 
feelings.  "Come  and  lie  down  with  me,"  she 
begged,  throwing  out  her  arm.  Billy  climbed 
up  beside  her,  and  they  were  presently  so  deep 
in  a  story  that  they  did  not  hear  a  light  step 
in  the  hall.  Chloe  had  come  to  the  final,  "And 
he  told  his  mother  he'd  never,  nev — er  run- 
awayagainaslongashelived !"  with  its  appro- 
priate embrace  before  she  was  aware  that  her 
hostess  stood  at  the  open  door. 

"Oh,  Mrs.  Cartaret!"  she  apologized,  but 
Mrs.  Cartaret  would  not  let  her  get  up. 

"I  never  knew  how  to  tell  stories,"  she  said, 
in  her  eyes  the  wistful  shadow  that  Chloe  had 
seen  on  the  beach.  "It  takes  a  special  gift — 
don't  you  think  so?" 

Chloe  only  smiled.  She  felt  good  and  happy 
now,  lying  in  her  pleasant  room;  lifted  above 
petty  irritation.  The  appealing  grace  of  the 
slender  figure  drooping  forward  in  the  chair 
beside  her  moved  her  to  put  out  a  warm  hand. 


THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS  148 

,  "It  is  beautiful  here,"  she  said.  "You  are 
so  kind,  Mrs.  Cartaret!  You  don't  know  how 
we  all  feel  about  what  you  are  doing  for  Rals- 
ton." 

Mrs.  Cartaret's  flush  made  Chloe  fear  that 
she  had  blundered.  "Ah,  that  is — a  privilege," 
she  said  hurriedly.  "Your  brother  has  great 
talent."  She  began  to  unfasten  the  strings  of 
a  package  she  had  brought,  as  though  to  leave 
the  subject;  then  she  paused,  turning  on  the 
girl  her  look  of  dark  intensity.  "Life  has  been 
hard  on  him,"  she  said.  "Rare  and  fine  spirits 
need  protection;  the  world  is  so  rough!  One 
longs  to — to — make  it  easier.  If  one  can — if  it 
is  right!  It  is  so  difficult  to  know  what  is — 
right ;  don't  you  think  so  ?  And  what  you  think 
right — perhaps  others  will  think  wrong.  One 
doesn't  know  what  to  do !" 

Chloe  was  silent  before  a  dismal  revelation. 
"Some  one  has  objected  to  her  backing  the  play 
— or  they're  going  to,"  was  her  distressed 
thought.  Words  of  Alex's,  resolutely  forgotten, 
came  rushing  back:  "Twenty  or  thirty  thou- 
sand dollars  will  matter  to  her.  How  are  you 
all  going  to  feel  if  it  is  a  flat  failure?"  For 


144  THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS 

a  bleak  moment  Chloe  knew  the  whole  bitter- 
ness and  ignominy  of  dependence.  She  did  not 
want  this  woman's  money  to  touch  her  family ; 
she  did  not  want  to  be  a  taker  of  disputed 
gifts !  "Oh,  if  we  only  had  our  own  1"  was  her 
silent  cry. 

A  clear  and  simple  voice  broke  the  tense  si- 
lence. "Is  'at  a  present?"  it  asked  sweetly. 

"Oh,  Billy !"  Chloe  reproached  him,  but  Mrs. 
Cartaret  smiled  and  gave  him  the  package. 

"Yes ;  it  is  a  present  for  Billy,"  she  said. 

"Did  granfaver  send  it?" 

She  looked  so  puzzled  that  Chloe  hastened  to 
explain.  "He  means  the  statue,"  she  said.  Mrs. 
Cartaret  looked  more  puzzled  than  ever,  but 
did  not  pursue  the  subject.  Chloe  had  opened 
the  box  and  was  encouraging  Billy's  rapture 
over  a  gaily  tasseled  horse  and  cart. 

"Oh,  the  li'l  po-ny!"  he  was  saying  in  utter 
tenderness,  his  curled  hands  uplifted  before 
the  wonder  of  it.  "Toto,  the  li'l  po-ny !"  Toto's 
eyes,  shining  with  laughter,  begged  Mrs.  Car- 
taret to  see  how  funny  and  adorable  he  was. 

"Mrs.  Cartaret  gave  it  to  you,  darling,"  she 
said.  "You  want  to  thank  her,  don't  you?" 


THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS  145 

Billy  instantly  rose  and  offered  his  broad  face 
for  the  kiss  of  gratitude.  Then  he  placed  horse 
and  cart  on  her  knees,  that  she  might  share 
with  him  all  their  beauties.  She  met  him  very 
earnestly;  her  hungriness  to  make  friends 
touched  Chloe  with  a  renewed  sense  of  her 
loneliness  and  her  disappointed  motherhood. 
She  forgave  her  own  moment  of  bitterness  as 
she  watched.  The  precious  gift  of  Billy's  af- 
fection was,  after  all,  a  real  return.  She  was 
sorry  when  a  maid  came  to  take  the  boy  to  his 
supper. 

Billy  also  resented  it.  He  got  down  on  the 
floor  with  an  obstinate  little  head-shake  that 
Chloe  well  knew. 

"You  can  take  your  pony  with  you,  dear," 
she  urged,  but  Billy  did  not  even  look  up. 

"I  don't  want  my  supper,"  he  said,  running 
the  horse  back  and  forth.  Mrs.  Cartaret  was 
alarmed,  but  Chloe  rose  with  brisk  assurance. 

"Now,  Billy,  if  you  don't  look  out,  in  about 
two  minutes  you  are  going  to  be  naughty,"  she 
told  him.  "So  box  both  your  ears,  hard.  Give 
it  to  them  quick,  darling!"  There  was  a  bare 
second  of  suspense;  then  the  day  was  saved. 


146  THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS 

Billy's  two  hands  went  joyously  into  action 
while  his  face  beamed  out  between.  Then,  pun- 
ished and  reformed,  he  tucked  horse  and  cart 
under  his  arm  and  gave  a  hand  to  Caroline. 
Mrs.  Cartaret's  dazed  expression  made  Chloe 
laugh. 

"Oh,  Billy  is  self-punishing — I've  brought 
him  up  to  that,"  she  explained.  "It  saves  us  a 
lot  of  struggles." 

Mrs.  Cartaret  sighed  as  she  rose.  "You 
really  are  an  extraordinary  family,"  she  mur- 
mured. 

Each  day  grew  a  little  harder  for  Chloe. 
Here  she  had  everything  heart  could  desire,  and 
nothing  good  awaited  her  in  the  hot  town ;  yet 
by  the  end  of  the  week  homesickness  had  risen 
to  a  fever.  Every  waking  hour  was  filled  with 
a  silent  wail :  "Oh,  I  want  to  go  home !"  When 
the  last  day  came,  she  could  scarcely  hide  her 
passion  of  relief. 

"It  has  done  you  good  here,"  Mrs.  Cartaret 
said,  and  Chloe  laughed  joyously. 

"I  never  felt  better,"  she  said  aloud,  but  her 
heart  said,  "To-morrow — to-morrow  at  this 
time  I  shall  be  almost  home !" 


THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS  147 

It  was  Sunday,  a  day  Ralston  usually  spent 
here,  but  rehearsals  had  begun,  and  he  was  not 
expected  this  week.  They  drove  to  a  pretty 
stone  church,  and  pleasant  people  spoke  to  them 
afterward,  but  Mrs.  Cartaret  shrank  away 
from  them.  She  was  breathless  with  shyness 
when  they  reached  the  motor. 

"I  hope  you  will  often  stay  with  me,"  she  said 
to  Chloe.  "I  have  been  alone  so  much  in  my 
life.  And  the  more  you  stay  alone,  the  harder 
it  is  to  face  people,  don't  you  think?"  And 
Chloe,  because  she  was  going  home  and  was 
wildly  happy,  felt  touched,  and  reproached  her- 
self for  the  half-hearted  companionship  she  had 
been  giving. 

"I  don't  know  how  I  shall  get  Billy  away," 
she  said.  "You  have  quite  won  him.  He  is  al- 
ways saying,  'Let's  go  and  find  her!' " 

The  lovely  face  was  lit  for  a  moment ;  then  it 
darkened.  "But  you  don't  think  I  am  trying  to 
win  him  away  from  you?"  she  urged,  her  hand 
over  Chloe's.  "You  wouldn't  think  that,  would 
you?" 

"Why,  of  course  not!  Why,  I  want  him  to 
love  everybody!"  Chloe  could  not  make  her 


148  THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS 

denial  emphatic  enough  to  satisfy  her  inner 
protest.  As  if  she  wanted  her  baby's  love  lim- 
ited to  herself!  "If  he  didn't  love  you,  when 
you  have  been  so  dear  to  him — why,  it  wouldn't 
be  Billy!" 

Mrs.  Cartaret  was  so  gratefully  pleased  that 
Chloe  had  to  forgive  her.  The  week  had  curi- 
ously changed  her  from  a  great  lady,  gracious 
and  aloof,  to  a  poor  dear  who  blundered  so  ear- 
nestly that  one  must  protect  and  reassure  her. 
Chloe  did  her  friendly  best,  and  tried  not  to  be 
relieved  when  they  turned  in  at  the  gates.  Some 
one  was  coming  to  meet  them,  rising  from  a 
long  chair  on  the  veranda. 

"Is  it  Ralston  ?"  Chloe  exclaimed. 

Mrs.  Cartaret  turned  with  a  start;  then 
Chloe,  beside  her,  felt  a  change  that  was  like  a 
sharp  fall  of  temperature.  She  looked  from  the 
sleek,  fashionable  young  man,  coming  down  the 
steps  with  an  air  of  ownership,  to  Mrs.  Car- 
taret's  face,  and  saw  that  it  was  stricken  white. 
It  offered  no  greeting,  and  Chloe  read  fear 
there,  the  appalled  shadow  of  something  too 
bad  to  be  true.  Then  there  was  a  quiet  lifting, 


THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS  149 

proud  or  stubborn,  of  the  graceful  body.  As 
the  car  stopped,  Mrs.  Cartaret  stepped  down 
with  outstretched  hands. 

"Why,  Donald!"  She  kissed  him,  smiling, 
murmuring  reproaches  that  she  had  not  been 
warned.  Then  she  turned  to  Chloe:  "Miss 
Gage,  I  want  my  son  to  meet  you." 

It  seemed  to  Chloe  that  they  met  with  a 
shock  of  enmity.  His  deep  bow,  touched  with 
foreignness,  was  covertly  mocking,  and  hard, 
uncivil  eyes  contradicted  the  courtesy  with 
which  he  helped  her  down.  She  stood  by  in 
helpless  silence  while  he  explained  that  busi- 
ness had  brought  him  over  on  a  moment's  no- 
tice, and  that  Georgette  had  not  been  able  to 
come. 

"I  knew  that  you  would  welcome  me,  dear 
mother,  even  without  warning,"  he  said,  and 
Chloe,  not  knowing  why,  felt  a  hot  desire  to 
strike  him.  She  turned  to  slip  away,  but  a 
squeal  of  joy  from  the  garden  checked  her. 
Billy,  arms  out,  was  running  to  take  his  new 
love's  knees  into  a  wide  embrace.  A  stream  of 
Conversation  came  with  him. 


150  THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS 

"They  was  a  mover  crab  and  a  faver  crab 
and  a  li'l  baby  crab,"  he  told  her,  "and  Car'- 
line— " 

Mrs.  Cartaret,  very  still  and  composed,  had 
bent  down  in  smiling  attention,  and  though  the 
reason  of  all  this  stifled  dreadfulness  still  baf- 
fled Chloe,  she  knew  that  she  must  get  the  lit- 
tle boy  away  as  quickly  as  possible. 

"Come,  Billy;  I  want  you,"  she  urged,  and 
hurried  him  up-stairs.  The  son's  voice  fol- 
lowed : 

"Quite  a  family  party!  The  playwright's 
child,  I  take  it?" 

She  did  not  hear  the  answer,  for  understand- 
ing had  come  with  a  shamed  rush.  Here  was 
the  one  who  had  protested,  who  had  perhaps 
come  in  person  to  step  the  romantic  backing 
of  untested  plays.  Alex's  bitter  judgment,  cast 
aside  as  prejudice,  suddenly  took  on  the  dire 
force  of  public  opinion.  Nothing  he  had  said 
could  be  more  harsh  than  the  judgment  of  this 
mocking  young  man.  He  could  scarcely  stop 
the  play,  now  that  it  was  in  rehearsal,  with 
scenery  made  and  theater  engaged;  but  Chloe 
wished  he  might,  rather  than  that  it  should  go 


THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS  151 

on  against  his  sneering  protest.  Alex,  who 
loved  her,  had  called  it  highway  robbery.  "The 
Gage  way!"  To  Donald  Cartaret,  they — who 
worked  so  hard  and  meant  so  well — were  a  set 
of  leeches  fastened  on  an  ill-defended  fortune. 

"But  suppose  it  is  a  great  success?  Suppose 
we  make  thousands  of  dollars  for  her?"  she 
flung  back  at  the  accusing  world,  but  they  were 
only  words:  no  inner  conviction  came  to  her 
help.  The  thought  of  lunching  in  Donald's 
presence  was  so  intolerable  that  she  began 
hastily  to  pack.  She  did  not  know  how  she 
could  get  away,  and  going  would  confirm  the 
family  guilt;  but  there  were  ordeals  too  hor- 
rible to  be  faced. 

The  dreaded  knock  at  the  door  made  her 
heart  vault.  She  opened  it  to  send  down  some 
excuse  about  a  headache ;  but  it  was  Mrs.  Car- 
taret who  stood  there.  Her  brave  smile  and 
the  whiteness  of  her  face  filled  Chloe  with  im- 
pulsive tenderness.  She  drew  her  in,  and  knew 
just  what  to  say. 

"Mrs.  Cartaret  dear,  I  really  ought  to  go 
back  home  to-day.  There  is  so  much  to  do  there. 
And  I  know  you  want  to  be  alone  with  your 


152  THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS 

son.  There  is  a  train  at  one  something,  isn't 
there?  Now,  if  Billy  and  I  could  have  a  tray  of 
lunch  up  here — " 

A  look  of  wan  relief  had  replaced  the  forced 
smile.  "I  hate  to  have  you,"  she  said ;  "but  of 
course,  if  you  really  must — if  you  feel  that 
way — " 

"I  do!" 

"Then  Harris  can  take  you  straight  home  in 
the  car.  It  is  so  much  pleasanter  than  the  train. 
And  Billy  would  like  the  ride."  Their  hands, 
clinging  together,  said  things  that  their  eyes 
and  words  denied. 

"We'd  both  adore  it.  We  can  be  ready  in  ten 
minutes." 

"Ah,  you  must  lunch.  I  will  send  it  right 
up."  At  the  door  Mrs.  Cartaret  hesitated.  "I 
should  love  to  have  you  stay  longer,  another 
week,"  she  said  hurriedly,  "only  I  promised 
your  brother  to  come  down  for  the  rehearsals. 
And  so  between  that  and  my  son — " 

"Of  course,"  Chloe  assented,  adding  in  a 
shamed  whisper :  "You  have  been  so  dear !" 

In  a  mercifully  short  time  they  followed  their 


THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS  153 

bags  down  to  the  car,  Billy  too  excited  over  the 
ride  to  realize  the  parting.  Chloe  had  hoped  to 
escape  Donald,  but  he  stood  on  the  steps,  a 
courteous  host,  waiting  to  help  her  in.  For  a 
moment  Chloe  felt  that  she  could  not,  physically 
could  not,  go  forward ;  but  Billy  had  run  ahead 
and  there  was  no  way  out.  Donald  turned  to 
her  with  a  faint  smile. 

"I  hope  you  are  not  letting  me  drive  you 
away,  Miss  Gage,"  he  said,  and  Chloe  suddenly 
knew  that  she  must  be  brave  now,  or  scorn  her- 
self ever  after.  She  controlled  an  anguished 
impulse  to  stammer  excuses,  facing  him  with 
girlish  defiance. 

"Yes,  you  are,"  she  said  clearly ;  "but  I  have 
to  forgive  you — I  know  what  it  must  mean  to 
get  back  to  a  dear  mother,  whom  you  see  so 
very  seldom.  The  least  I  could  do  was  to  run 
away.  Good-by,  Mrs.  Cartaret.  We  have  had 
the  loveliest  time."  She  kissed  her  hostess, 
shook  hands  with  Donald,  and  then  it  was  over. 
At  first  she  could  feel  only  her  tremulous  re- 
lief; but  the  last  view  of  the  lovely  lady,  so 
composed  and  white  and  bravely  smiling,  pres- 


154  THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS 

ently  brought  a  surge  of  pity.  It  seemed  heart- 
less to  leave  any  one  so  softly  defenseless  alone 
with  Donald  Cartaret. 

The  return  home  was  not  the  happy  flight 
that  Chloe  had  foreseen,  but  the  sight  of  her 
father's  statue  brought  a  dim  comfort.  Things 
were  never  quite  unbearable  under  the  shelter 
of  that  beloved  presence.  She  slipped  out  to 
him  by  herself  that  night4  looking  up  into  his 
face  with  harassed  eyes. 

"I  am  so  frightened,  father,"  she  confessed. 
"If  the  play  fails,  I  can't  endure  it — I  can't  go 
on  living !  I  am  so  ashamed !  And  I  can't  say 
anything,  I  am  all  alone.  I'm  only  little  Chloe. 
What  can  I  do?" 

Sereno  Gage  had  no  answer  for  her.  He  was 
still  enclosed  in  the  tattered  old  fence,  with  the 
dying  grass  at  his  feet,  for  Mrs.  Gage,  going 
through  the  formality  of  asking  permission  to 
put  the  plot  in  order,  had  met  with  an  unex- 
pected check.  Some  vague  official,  who  could 
not  be  seen  or  reached  by  telephone,  had  made 
a  vague  request  for  delay. 

"If  they  were  planning  to  do  it  themselves, 


THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS  155 

they  might  have  told  me  before  I  raised  the 
money,"  she  commented;  but  she  was  too  ab- 
sorbed in  her  Diet  Kitchen  and  her  family's 
affairs  to  give  the  matter  active  thought..  Sa- 
bra  was  back,  covered  with  new  glories,  Rals- 
ton's  play  was  going  on  in  two  weeks'  time. 
Mrs.  Gage,  out  of  her  hard  experience,  said 
more  than  once,  "It  half  frightens  me!"  But 
they  were  only  words  of  propitiation,  aimed  at 
some  jealous  power.  Never  had  she  reviewed 
her  forces  with  a  more  brilliant  confidence. 

"This  time  next  year,"  she  began,  the  night 
after  Chloe's  return,  but  none  of  her  children 
heard  the  rest  of  the  sentence,  each  filling  it  out 
in  his  own  way.  Ralston,  who  had  been  look- 
ing at  the  evening  paper,  threw  it  down  and 
went  off  as  though  moments  were  too  precious 
to  lose.  Chloe  turned  with  a  shiver  from  what 
she  saw,  but  Sabra  was  smiling. 

"People  want  such  different  things,"  Sabra 
said.  "Now,  to  write  plays  or  novels — I  don't 
care  how  successful  they  were — would  seem  to 
me  a  little  like  playing  with  paper  dolls.  Not 
quite  worth  a  grown  person's  time." 


156  THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS 

Mrs.  Gage  had  an  apprehensive  eye  for  the 
door.  "Well,  I  wouldn't  say  so  before  Rawly, 
dear,"  she  advised. 

"No;  Ralston  is  too  personal,"  Sabra  as- 
sented. "He  can't  look  at  writing  apart  from 
the  fact  that  he  is  a  writer.  Chloe,  I  can  see 
that  you  are  going  to  say  something  rather  ex- 
cited about  Shakespeare;  but  I  should  have  to 
talk  for  an  hour  to  make  clear  and  convincing 
to  you  just  what  I  mean." 

"It  would  take  you  a  good  deal  more  than  an 
hour,"  Chloe  returned  with  a  new  independence. 
She  had  sincerely  repented  the  unjust  charges 
she  had  flung  at  Sabra,  weeks  before,  and  yet 
she  had  never  seen  her  sister  with  the  same 
eyes  since  that  night.  Something  was  gone, 
and  Chloe  was  older  for  the  loss.  Ralston's 
step  was  heard  on  the  stairs,  and  Mrs.  Gage 
motioned  a  warning.  He  started  to  go  out,  but 
came  back  from  the  front  door  to  stand  looking 
in  on  them. 

"I  am  going  to  run  over  some  scenes  with 
Miss  Hawthorne,"  he  announced  for  the  sheer 
satisfaction  of  hearing  it.  "She  misses  the 
shade  of  meaning  that  I  want  in  some  places. 


LTHB  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS  157. 

,But  she  is  very  nice  about  taking  sugges- 
tions." 

The  thrill  of  what  was  coming  touched  them 
all  afresh.  Their  lifted  faces  begged  him  to 
go  on. 

"Mrs.  Cartaret  is  coming  up  to-morrw  to  see 
some  of  the  rehearsals."  Ralston's  voice  kept  a 
special  note  for  Mrs.  Cartaret's  name;  he  had 
cast  about  it  such  a  sacredness  that  Mrs.  Gage 
was  afraid  to  pronounce  it  at  all.  "If  it  is  very 
hot,  she  will  motor  back  to  the  Sound  nights." 

"I  hope  you  will  go  with  her,  dear,"  his 
mother  said.  "Her  place  has  done  you  so  much 
good  this  summer.  Though  I  suppose,  if  her 
son  is  here — " 

"Oh,  yes;  I  couldn't  stand  Donald,"  Ralston 
assented,  coming  in  to  lean  against  the  wall. 
"Besides,  I  shall  have  to  stay  very  close  now; 
Grady  means  well,  but  stage  managers  are  al- 
ways a  low  type  of  intelligence.  He  keeps 
wanting  to  make  changes  and  cuts.  I  have  to 
say  a  dozen  times  a  day,  'No ;  not  one  line  al- 
tered !  This  is  going  on  as  I  see  it.'  Then  he 
shrugs  and  gives  in.  When  I  think  how  my 
(play  would  come  out  if  I  were  at  his  mercy— -l'[ 


158  THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS 

"Ah,  you  have  been  fortunate,"  Mrs.  Gage 
said.  "It  seems  as  if  perhaps  our  hard  times 
were  over;  as  if  we  were  all  going  to  be  for- 
tunate now.  The  long  struggle  is  coming  to  its 
reward."  There  Was  a  note  of  age  in  her  voice, 
of  tired  peace.  Her  old  hands  lay  relaxed  on 
her  knee,  her  eyes  blessed  her  children  and  their 
shining  futures.  Sabra  and  Ralston  nodded 
careless  acquiescence,  but  Chloe  drew  closer  to 
her,  dropping  down  on  the  stool  at  her  feet  and 
taking  the  hands  into  an  urgent  grasp. 

"You  do  too  much,  mother,"  she  exclaimed. 
"That  old  Diet  Kitchen  has  tired  you  out." 

"It  was  worth  it,  dear.  And  it  is  well  started 
now;  I  needn't  go  down  there  so  much.  I — 
why,  who  is  it?" 

A  step  had  passed  the  open  front  door  with- 
out ceremony,  and  Alex  came  in  with  the  hur- 
ried obliviousness  of  one  who  brings  bad  news. 
He  held  a  newspaper,  and  though  his  eyes  met 
Chloe's,  they  said  nothing  to  her  that  they  did 
not  say  to  all. 

"Have  you  read  the  evening  paper?"  Their 
faces  told  him  that  they  had  not,  and  he  went 
quickly  to  his  aunt,  laying  the  sheet  before  her. 


THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS  159 

"I  was  afraid  you  had  missed  it,"  he  said,  "and 
I  knew — "  His  eyes  dropped  to  Chloe's  averted 
head  and  he  broke  off. 

"  'An  old  landmark  going,' "  Mrs.  Gage  read. 
"  'The  Statue  of  Sereno  Gage—' "  Her  voice 
faltered.  Ralston  caught  the  paper  from  her. 

"  'To  be  pulled  down !' "  he  exclaimed.  A  cry 
broke  from  Chloe.  Ralston  was  reading  indig- 
nantly, Sabra  looked  thoughtfully  grave,  but 
Chloe  and  her  mother  clung  together,  lifting 
stricken  faces. 

"Of  all  the  asinine — !"  Ralston  burst  out. 
"Why  can't  the  traffic  go  round  some  other 
way?  To  sacrifice  an  emblem  of  greatness  to 
a  few  butcher  carts — isn't  that  just  like 
America?" 

"I  suppose,  if  there  really  are  accidents  there 
because  of  the  congestion,"  Sabra  began  in  a 
tone  of  high  reasonableness,  but  Mrs.  Gage  had 
put  away  Chloe's  arms  and  risen. 

"It  isn't  going  to  be  pulled  down,"  she  said, 
standing  before  them  straight  and  gaunt  and 
powerful.  "I  will  go  about  it  first  thing  to- 
morrow morning.  Who  is  the  person  to  see, 
Alex — the  borough  president?" 


160  THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS 

The  brave  girding  up  to  action  had  touched 
Alex.  "Let  me  go  for  you.  I  will  do  everything 
in  my  power.  I'll  see  the  mayor  and  the  com- 
missioner of  parks  and  highways — " 

"No,"  she  interrupted.  "Thank  you,  Alex, 
but  this  is  my  work.  Tell  me  the  names." 

He  sat  down  beside  her,  telling  her  all  he 
knew  of  the  men  in  control.  The  old  antag- 
onism seemed  gone ;  he  was  so  kind  and  so  ear- 
nest that  Chloe  had  to  call  on  the  unforgivable 
word  to  keep  her  heart  shut.  "Grafter!"  The 
faithful  anger  responded.  Better  that  the  sac- 
rilege be  committed  than  that  it  should  be 
averted  by  his  help. 

"If  you  find  you  can  use  me,  Aunt  Emily — " 
His  handshake  completed  the  sentence.  Then 
he  paused  before  Chloe,  still  crouched  on  her 
stool,  but  she  would  not  look  up.  "I  know  what 
it  must  mean,"  he  said  to  them  all,  and  went 
out.  Ralston  read  the  article  again,  muttering 
impatiently,  then  caught  up  his  hat. 

"Well,  I  might  as  well  go  and  rehearse,"  he 
said.  Sabra  took  the  paper  from  him  and  read 
the  paragraph  with  a  line  of  thought  between 
her  fine  eyes. 


THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS  161 

"If  women  had  more  voice  in  municipal  af- 
"fairs,  things  like  this  need  not  happen,"  she 
said. 

Mrs.  Gage  silently  went  to  the  desk  and  be- 
gan composing  letters,  and  Chloe  watched  her 
in  aching  silence.  When  at  last  Sabra  had  gone 
to  bed,  she  stood  at  her  mother's  side. 

"Can't  I  help?"  she  begged.  Mrs.  Gage's 
glance  was  absent,  stern  with  purpose. 

"No,  dear.  Just  leave  me  alone  now,"  she 
said,  and  Chloe  obeyed. 

Hours  later,  in  a  silent  house,  Mrs.  Gage  took 
the  paper  and  read  the  brief  paragraph 
through.  "Old  landmark  .  .  .  once  a  well- 
known  name  .  .  .  quaintly  crude  repre- 
sentation ...  no  especial  interest  now  at- 
taches .  .  ."  The  patronizing  phrases  fell 
on  her  like  buffets,  under  which  she  shrank 
with  bewildered  pain.  For  a  long  time  she  sat 
facing  them,  and,  back  of  them,  a  new  city  in 
the  hands  of  a  new  generation.  When  she  rose, 
her  martial  courage  seemed  shaken.  It  was  a 
weary,  failing  old  woman  who  crept  up  the 
stairs  to  bed. 


CHAPTER  VI 

MRS.  GAGE  set  out  on  her  campaign  early 
the  next  morning;  but  she,  who  had  led 
so  many  forlorn  hopes  to  victory,  was  beaten 
before  she  started.  Something  was  gone  out  of 
her  fighting  power.  The  old  patient  diligence 
was  there:  she  waited  hours  in  outer  offices, 
interviewed  every  city  official  who  could  be 
caught,  sent  out  a  stream  of  letters  to  the  press 
and  to  influential  friends ;  but  the  swing  of  her 
enthusiasm  had  fallen.  She  plodded  forth,  a 
broken  old  soldier,  faithful  to  the  last,  seeing 
only  that  she  must  fight,  not  that  she  must  win. 
She  had  always  been  too  busy  to  pause  by  the 
statue,  and  she  still  passed  it  obliviously,  too  in- 
tent on  the  fact  to  care  about  the  actual  pres- 
ence. It  was  the  family  fort  that  was  threat- 
ened, the  power  that  had  kept  the  city  from 
swallowing  them  whole.  She  was  fighting  for 
the  future  of  her  children  as  much  as  for  the 
honor  of  the  dead.  Ralston  and  Sabra  perhaps 
162 


THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS  163 

felt  that  their  own  luster  would  be  sufficient  to 
carry  them  on,  for  they  soon  forgot  to  ask  for 
news  of  the  day's  efforts ;  but  to  Chloe  it  was 
a  clear  and  simple  grief,  like  the  fear  of  loss 
by  death.  The  statue  was  her  father  to  her. 
The  shadowy  comradeship  that  had  so  lovingly 
helped  her  to  grow  up  had  its  beginning  and 
end  in  the  image  that  had  made  him  real.  It 
seemed  shocking  that  Ralston's  play  should  go 
on,  that  they  should  prepare  for  anything  so 
festive  as  a  first  night  while  this  sorrow  hung 
over  the  family. 

Mrs.  Gage  slept  little  at  any  time,  but  now 
she  stayed  up  till  all  hours,  and  there  came  a 
night  when  Chloe,  waking  at  intervals,  saw  her 
light  burning  nearly  into  the  dawn.  In  the 
morning  she  set  out  as  usual,  but  in  a  few  min- 
utes she  slowly  came  back.  Chloe  ran  down  to 
the  door,  an  alarmed  question  at  her  lips,  but 
Mrs.  Gage  was  not  ill. 

"No,  dear ;  no— I  am  all  right,"  she  said,  and 
sat  down  in  bonnet  and  gloves  as  though  think- 
ing out  some  new  and  absorbing  problem.  Chloe 
waited  to  be  told.  She  had  never  looked  more 
like  the  girlish  Botticelli  angel,  hanging  just 


164  THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS 

over  her  head.  In  spite  of  a  clenched  will,  the 
sight  and  sound  of  Alex — so  full  of  kindness ! — 
had  worked  on  her  righteous  anger.  It  was  no 
longer  a  hard,  sure  weapon  to  strike  with ;  and 
a  longing  that  she  hotly  denied  was  laying 
shadows  on  her  uptilted  face.  Mrs.  Gage,  pres- 
ently seeing  her  there,  smiled  and  leaned  back, 
drawing  off  her  gloves. 

"I  think  perhaps  I  have  done  all  I  can,  Toto," 
she  said  cheerfully.  "I  could  see  them  all  over 
again;  but  I  can't  put  the  case  any  stronger 
than  I  have.  And  I  have  been  thinking — " 
She  paused  so  long  that  Chloe  murmured  a 
question.  "Why,  I  have  been  thinking  that  per- 
haps both  your  father  and  I  have  done  our 
work.  You  are  all  pretty  well  launched  now; 
you  can  go  on  without  us.  Why,  Toto,  darling, 
it  is  nothing  to  look  so  frightened  about;"  she 
patted  with  detached  kindliness  the  hand  that 
had  clutched  her.  "I  only  mean  that  perhaps 
I  can  stay  home  now,  and  play  with  Billy,  and 
look  on  while  you  go  forward.  It  is  time,  dear, 
and  I  am  tired.  I'm  pretty  tired.  I  would  save 
your  father  if  I  could,  but  if  I  can't — well, 
maybe  it  doesn't  matter  so  much  as  I  thought. 


THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS  165 

We've  both  done  our  best.  .  .  .  Another 
thing,"  she  went  on,  as  Chloe  did  not  speak; 
"you  have  given  yourself  very  faithfully  to  our 
little  boy,  but  it  is  time  that  you  had  a  chance 
to  develop  your  own  life,  as  Sabra  and  Ralston 
have.  Rawly  will  have  money  now  to  help  you, 
if  you  need  it.  I  mean  to  set  you  free.  Look- 
ing after  my  grandchild  will  be  better  work  for 
me  than  racing  about  the  city.  I  am  going  to 
resign  from  everything.  The  Diet  Kitchen  is 
on  its  feet,  and  the  Babies'  Outings  are  nearly 
over  for  this  year — we'll  have  a  last  one  in 
September  if  the  weather  holds  good.  And  the 
other  committees — they  will  protest,  but  I  think 
I'm  done."  She  rose,  smiling.  "I  have  always 
thought  I  wanted  to  die  in  harness,  but,  since 
I  haven't,  home  feels  rather  good.  I  am  going 
to  write  my  resignations  now." 

"Why  not  wait  a  day  or  two?"  Chloe  urged. 
"The  summer  has  been  hard.  Don't  you  know 
how  vigorous  you  always  feel  in  the  autumn?" 

Mrs.  Gage  had  a  tranquil  certainty  that  was 
beyond  the  reach  of  argument.  "Oh,  well,  I 
shall  have  plenty  to  do,"  she  said.  "Come  back 
and  mail  these,  dear,  when  you  feel  like  it." 


166  THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS 

She  seemed  so  well  and  serene  that  Chloe's 
moment  of  fright  passed.  After  all,  it  was 
the  sensible  and  right  thing  to  do  at  her 
mother's  age.  And  there  was  a  thrill  in  hav- 
ing her  own  life  taken  so  seriously.  She  had 
always  drawn  a  little — chiefly  pretty  ladies, 
and  gallant  men  who  looked  very  much  like  the 
ladies  with  mustaches  added, — she  might  go  to 
the  art  league  and  see  if  she  could  become  an 
illustrator.  She  returned  with  a  new  cheerful- 
ness to  mail  the  letters. 

Billy,  of  course,  went  with  her  to  the  corner, 
and  though  the  street  was  crowded  at  this  time, 
he  insisted  on  crossing  to  his  grandfather  for 
a  morning  greeting.  How  he  was  to  be  told 
and  comforted  if  Sereno  Gage  had  to  go  was  a 
problem  that  Chloe  would  not  face  till  she 
had  to. 

"Little  children  forget,"  she  silently  told  her 
father.  "But  he  will  never  forget  what  you 
were.  I  can  do  that  for  you." 

"And  granny's  going  to  buy  you  a  gol'  fence 
and  a  umbrella  and  a  li'l  po-ny,"  Billy  was 
improvising  at  the  top  of  his  lungs. 


.THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS  167 

"Oh,  Billy!"  Chloe  exclaimed  in  a  tone  of 
such  acute  dismay  that  he  asked  anxiously : 

"Did  you  bump  your  head,  Toto?" 

"No,  dear,  I  only  remembered  something." 
She  hurried  him  home,  bursting  in  on  her 
mother,  who  was  sitting  down  to  the  morning 
paper. 

"Mother!  The  fund!"  she  cried.  Mrs.  Gage 
was  undisturbed. 

"I  have  been  thinking  of  that,"  she  said. 

"Have  you  got  all  the  names?  And  the 
amount  each  gave?"  Chloe  persisted.  "For 
otherwise  returning  it  is  going  to  be  an  awful 
task."  She  spoke  confidently,  but  she  was  mis- 
erably afraid  of  the  answer.  Mrs.  Gage  looked 
patient. 

"Why,  I  think  we  can  do  something  better 
than  return  it,  Chloe:  something  that  will  do 
what  it  was  meant  to  do — pay  honor  to  your 
father's  memory." 

"But  they  gave  it  for  just  that  one  thing!" 

It  was  evident  that  Mrs.  Gage's  problem  was, 
not  the  fund,  but  her  youngest  daughter.  "Try 
to  put  yourself  in  their  place,  dear.  If  you  had 


168  THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS 

given  for  a  good  object,  shouldn't  you  be  glad 
to  have  it  used  in  some  equivalent  way?" 

Chloe  tried  to  figure  it  out,  but  could  only 
wince.  "I  simply  know  that  we  ought  to  send 
it  back,"  she  said  wretchedly.  "Or  else  ask 
them  all—" 

"That  wouldn't  be  impossible,"  her  mother 
indulged  her,  turning  a  sheet  of  the  paper  and 
shaking  it  out.  "But  shan't  we  leave  that 
bridge  till  we  come  to  it?  I  haven't  given  up 
hope  of  saving  the  statue." 

Chloe  welcomed  the  reprieve.  "That's  true — 
we  haven't  lost  yet,  have  we !  You  slept  so  lit- 
tle last  night,"  she  added,  apologetic  that  she 
had  seemed  to  criticize.  "If  you  want  a  nap,  I 
will  keep  Billy  out  of  the  way." 

Mrs.  Gage  never  knew  that  one  had  offended. 
She  let  Chloe  cover  her  with  the  unfailing  af- 
fectionate response.  Chloe  slipped  out,  but  as 
she  closed  the  door  her  name  was  sharply  called. 
Mrs.  Gage  was  on  her  feet,  staring  at  the  paper. 

"Where's  Sabra?  Find  Sabra,"  she  com- 
manded, adding,  as  Chloe  did  not  move,  "Mr. 
Harper  Lindsley  died  last  night  I" 


JTHE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS  169 

Sabra,  summoned  from  up-stairs,  took  the 
news  much  more  calmly. 

"I  have  been  to  see  him  and  reported  prog- 
ress right  along,  mother,"  she  explained.  "He 
has  been  intensely  interested  in  the  work.  *I 
don't  know  what  I'd  do  for  refreshment  with- 
out your  visits,  Sabra/  he  said  to  me,  just  the 
last  time.  He  won't  leave  the  work  unprovided 
for,  you  may  be  sure  of  that."  She  had  to  say 
it  more  than  once  before  Mrs.  Gage  was  reas- 
sured. 

"Some  way,  with  the  statue  going,  I  feel  as 
if  anything  might  happen,"  she  said,  in  apology 
for  her  faint-heartedness.  "It  is  probably  as 
you  say.  And,  if  it  isn't,  Rawly  will  have 
money  from  the  play.  And  there  is  the  fund. 
I  don't  think  we  could  use  it  better  than  in  fur- 
thering your  work,  Sabra." 

"That's  so — the  fund ;"  Sabra  looked  thought- 
fully interested.  "If  it  isn't  needed,  we  might 
take  it  to  furnish  the  Society's  new  quarters. 
That  would  be  a  wonderful  help.  We  could  put 
up  a  tablet  or  something  to  link  my  father's 
memory  with  it.  Just  how  much — " 


Chloe  had  turned  to  slip  out  of  the  room,  to 
run  away  from  the  whole  dreadful  business,  but 
at  the  door  something  deep  within  her  seemed 
to  strike  like  a  great  clock  that  said  "Now!" 
She  came  back,  a  flame  wavering  in  her  cheeks. 
They  made  it  harder  by  not  noticing  in  their 
absorption  that  she  was  there.  They  were  so 
tall,  so  sure ! 

"But  so  wrong!"  she  cried  to  her  faltering 
courage. 

"If  we  had  leather  in  the  library — "  Sabra 
was  saying.  Chloe  broke  in. 

"Sabra,  you  can't  take  that  money.  It  was 
given  for  the  statue.  The  people  who  gave  it 
may  not  even  believe  in  eugenics."  Her  voice 
would  tremble,  but  she  was  standing  very 
straight,  as  tall  as  possible.  Sabra  looked  as 
surprised  as  though  Billy  had  interfered,  but 
she  answered  reasonably. 

"How  could  any  one  who  believed  in  our  fa- 
ther's work,  not  believe  in  work  that  is  for  the 
welfare  of  the  child?" 

"They  may  not  believe  that  furniture  for  the 
Society  is  the  way  to  get  that."  Chloe  was 
steadier.  After  all,  it  was  not  so  hard  when 


THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS  171 

one  was  in  hot  earnest !  "I  know  Uncle  Harry 
would  never  have  given  for  furniture,  and  I 
got  one  of  the  biggest  checks  from  him.  If  you 
asked  them,  some  might  be  embarrassed  about 
refusing.  I  think  every  cent  ought  to  go  back 
the  minute  we  know." 

Sabra's  good  temper  was  wonderful.  "I  see 
your  point,  Chloe.  I  think  I  agree  with  you 
about  Uncle  Harry's  contribution — though  I 
am  not  sure.  If  I  talked  with  him — however, 
we  can  leave  it  all  for  the  present.  If  the 
statue  has  to  go,  I  will  make  my  side  clearer  to 
you,  little  sister."  She  rose  with  the  finality 
that  dismissed  meetings,  and  Chloe  could 
only  go. 

"But  I  did  make  a  stand,  father,"  she  mur- 
mured, her  hot  cheek  against  an  invisible  sleeve. 
"And  if  Sabra  takes  that  fund,  it  will  be  over 
my  dead  body."  Her  wrath  boiled  up  again. 
"I  don't  care,  it  is  graft.  I'll  never  forgive 
Alex,  but  he  was  right.  Give  money  to  Sereno 
Gage,  and  then  have  it  furnish  those  silly  old 
eugenics  rooms!"  Her  own  phrase  for  a  mo- 
ment shocked  her,  but  presently  she  affirmed  it. 
"It  is  a  silly  old  society.  I  don't  believe  there 


172  THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS 

will  be  one  better  baby  born,  for  all  their 
speeches  and  poems  and  cake !  No  baby  within 
a  thousand  miles  of  Billy !" 

She  turned  to  her  little  boy  as  one  turns  to 
beauty  after  ugliness.  Billy  always  represented 
sanctuary  to  Chloe :  he  embodied  her  faith  that 
things  were  somehow  good. 

She  found  him  out  in  front  on  his  permitted 
area  of  sidewalk,  and  paused  in  the  hall  to 
watch  what  was  going  on.  A  strange  little  boy 
had  come  by  sniveling,  a  dirty  fist  grinding  at 
his  eyes,  and  Billy  had  gone  to  him  at  once  with 
the  freemasonry  of  compassion.  His  stumpy 
little  arm  was  about  the  other's  neck  and  his 
tilted  face  was  looking  earnestly  into  the 
grieved  countenance. 

"Did  you  hurt  you?"  he  was  asking  with  ten- 
der interest.  "Po-or  li'l  boy — did  you  hurt 
you?" 

The  stranger,  completely  won,  displayed  a 
scraped  shin.  His  tears  were  dried  by  the  time 
he  went  on  to  his  tenement  in  the  next  block. 
When  Billy  came  hitching  up  the  steps  to  tell 
Toto  of  the  harrowing  accident,  she  caught  him 
to  her  with  quick  intensity ;  but  there  was  noth- 


THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS  173 

ing  strange  to  Billy  in  that.  Toto  always  loved 
him. 

Mr.  Harper  Lindsley's  will,  published  a  few 
days  later,  contained  no  mention  of  Sabra.  Mrs. 
Gage  was  distressed  at  the  news ;  her  old  fight- 
ing courage  seemed  to  be  waning.  It  was  Sabra 
who  was  calm  and  resourceful. 

"I  dare  say  it  will  turn  out  best  for  me  this 
way,"  she  declared.  "Everything  that  happens 
to  me  turns  out  for  the  best.  It  is  only  two 
days  now  to  Ralston's  play,  and  that  may 
change  the  whole  family  status.  I  will  not 
make  any  move  till  after  the  first  night.  I  don't 
even  want  to  think  of  it.  We  must  all  be  full 
of  encouraging  and  strengthening  thought  for 
Ralston." 

Mrs.  Gage  tried  not  to  sigh.  "If  it  will  only 
succeed!"  she  murmured,  a  hand  at  her  fore- 
head. 

The  same  cry  was  in  Chloe's  heart  night  and 
day:  "If  it  will  only  succeed!"  She  was  not 
concerned  now  for  the  family  fortunes;  she 
wanted  to  look  Donald  Cartaret  in  the  eyes  and 
see  him  acknowledge  that  his  cruel  estimate  of 
them  was  false. 


174  THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS 

"We  may  graft,  but  we  don't  know  it — we 
aren't  leeches !"  she  told  him  with  a  quivering 
attempt  at  lightness  as  she  made  ready  for 
the  theater  on  the  great  night. 

The  weather  was  still  sultry,  for  though  the 
first  Monday  in  September  was  too  early  for 
the  sort  of  audience  Ralston  wanted,  some  diffi- 
culty about  theater  dates  had  obliged  him  to 
take  that.  The  play  had  been  given  a  hasty 
trial  out  of  town,  and  Ralston  had  come  back 
strained,  preoccupied,  too  nervous  to  be  asked 
questions. 

"Well  enough — as  well  as  you  could  expect 
with  that  class  of  audience,"  was  all  he  would 
say.  They  had  scarcely  seen  him  since,  and  he 
would  not  share  their  box,  preferring  to  lurk 
somewhere  in  the  upper  galleries.  Chloe,  as 
she  took  her  seat,  caught  a  glimpse  of  his  white 
face  high  up  above  them,  and  the  appalling 
seriousness  of  the  occasion  fell  sickishly  on  a 
brave  attempt  at  good  spirits.  She  had  looked 
forward  to  the  first  night  as  a  festivity,  a  glori- 
fied party,  brilliant  with  applause,  but  the  chill 
depression  that  settled  down  on  her  made  it 
seem  more  like  an  operation. 


JTHE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS  175 

The  play  had  been  widely  advertised,  and  the 
house  was  full.  In  a  seat  well  to  the  front  she 
saw  Mrs.  Carteret,  and  tried  to  smile  at  her, 
but  the  lovely  lady,  very  pale  and  still  in  her 
rich  clothes,  would  not  lift  her  eyes.  Presently 
Donald  Cartaret  came  in,  but  did  not  join  her, 
apparently  preferring  to  stand  at  the  back. 
Old  friends  or  admirers  of  Sereno  Gage  paused 
at  the  box  to  say  a  friendly  word,  and  Mrs. 
Gage  grew  happy  and  animated  under  the 
stimulus.  In  spite  of  herself,  Chloe  watched 
for  Alex,  but  though  she  soon  discovered  Uncle 
Harry  and  his  family,  Alex  was  not  with  them. 

"Afraid  he'd  have  to  admit  he  was  in  the 
wrong,"  Chloe  muttered,  to  keep  up  her  spirit. 
Then,  when  the  lights  darkened,  a  craven  and 
illogical  longing  for  him  swept  drowningly  over 
her.  "If  he'd  just  help  me  through — then  I'd 
hate  him  as  much  as  ever,"  she  stammered  to 
her  shaken  self  as  three  ominous  bronze  notes 
announced  the  rising  of  the  curtain. 

Two  Chloes  were  present  that  bewildering 
evening.  One  heard  good  applause,  but  the 
other  said,  "They  always  clap  on  first  nights." 
One  saw  intent  listening,  the  other  cried  that 


;i76  THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS 

they  were  bored.  One  heard  on  the  stage  fluent 
and  emotional  speeches,  the  other  was  tortured 
by  faltering,  fumbled  lines,  and  shrieked,  "Go 
on,  go  on — oh,  don't  drag  so !"  at  every  signifi- 
cant pause.  One  said,  "It  is  going  well!"  but 
jthe  other  cast  over  every  scene  the  cold  blight 
of  failure. 

"That  is  morbid,"  Chloe  scolded  her  darker 
self.  "Mother  and  Sabra  don't  feel  it — see  how 
calm  and  pleased  they  are.  People  are  not 
meant  to  laugh — it  isn't  a  comedy.  They  were 
all  quiet  and  interested,  and  there  were  two  cur- 
tain calls.  It's  a  success!  Rawly  has  suc- 
ceeded !"  The  only  response  was  a  stifled  groan. 
She  felt  pilloried  up  there  in  the  box,  a  mark 
for  pitying  or  scornful  glances.  If  only  the 
miserable  failure  would  end  and  let  them  crawl 
home! 

Friends  stopped  them  on  the  way  out,  shak- 
ing their  hands  and  making  vague,  kind  re- 
marks. Chloe  strained  to  get  away  from  them, 
but  her  mother  would  linger  and  talk.  The  trip 
home  in  the  bright,  crowded  car  prolonged  the 
general  dreadf ulness ;  physical  distortion  and 
drunkenness  and  coarse  joy  were  there,  press- 


THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS  177 

ing  close  upon  shrinking  nerves.  It  seemed 
,yery  long  before  they  escaped  into  the  quiet 
darkness  of  their  own  street. 

"Well,  they  certainly  listened  well,"  said  Mrs. 
Gage,  taking  out  her  latch-key.  Her  voice  was 
rich  with  content.  "It  wasn't  an  ovation,  but 
it  was  a  good  performance  and  a  good,  solid 
success.  Don't  you  think  so,  girls  ?" 

Sabra  answered  without  enthusiasm,  yet 
with  a  reasonable  assurance.  "Yes;  I  think  it 
ought  to  go  very  well — for  a  first  play.  Parts 
of  it,  of  course,  are  better  than  others ;  but  the 
house  seemed  to  like  it.  Yes,  I  feel  very  well 
satisfied." 

Chloe's  secret  thought  nearly  leaped  out: 
"Are  you  lying?  Or  do  you  really  fool  your- 
self?" She  was  so  silent  that  her  mother,  at 
her  door,  laid  a  fond  hand  on  her  shoulder. 

"Tired  out,  little  girl?"  she  asked.  "Didn't 
you  think  it  went  well  ?" 

Chloe  managed  to  smile.  "I  was  so  fright- 
ened I  didn't  know  what  to  think,"  she  con- 
fessed. "We  shall  know  better  when  we  see 
the  morning  papers." 

"Oh,  they  will  give  good  notices  to  your  fa- 


178  THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS 

ther's  son,"  was  the  confident  answer  as  Mrs. 
Gage  kissed  her  good  night. 

Chloe  went  to  bed,  but  could  not  sleep.  There 
were  Mrs.  Cartaret  to  be  faced,  and  Donald 
with  his  good  manners  and  his  uncivil  eyes,  and 
poor  Ralston  with  all  his  hopes  in  the  dust. 
Then  she  fell  to  wondering  how  he  saw  it:  if 
that  meager  response  had  meant  to  him  suc- 
cess. The  question  grew  so  acute  that  she 
opened  her  door  to  watch  for  him.  A  light  had 
been  left  in  the  hall,  and  it  would  show  her  his 
face. 

"And  perhaps  all  the  time  I  am  wrong :  per- 
haps that  is  what  a  success  feels  like  when  you 
are  frightened,"  she  argued  over  and  over,  but 
in  vain. 

Hours  went  by.  A  clock  had  struck  two  be- 
fore Chloe  heard  a  step  below.  She  raised  her- 
self on  one  elbow,  leaning  toward  the  door.  The 
step  was  mounting  heavily,  but  that  might  be 
only  weariness.  Then  she  saw  the  narrow, 
sensitive  face,  lifted  blindly,  and  so  white  and 
drawn  that  a  note  of  compassion  broke  from 
her. 


THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS  179 

"Rawly!" 

He  turned,  looking  in  at  her  from  the  door- 
way, but  he  did  not  speak.  She  tried  not  to 
show  all  her  understanding. 

"Where  have  you  been  all  this  time?"  she 
asked. 

Ralston  never  pretended.  "I  don't  know — : 
walking,  perhaps ;  I  think  I  sat  on  a  bench,"  he 
answered  obliviously.  "It  failed — you  saw, 
that." 

She  tried  to  save  something  for  him,  to  speak 
well  of  what  was  good,  but  in  the  face  of  that 
white  misery  it  was  useless. 

"Yes,"  she  said,  "but  it  was  only  your  first 
play,  Ralston.  One  has  to  fail  a  few  times, 
doesn't  one?" 

He  had  no  ears  for  comfort.  "And  I  saw 
why,"  he  went  on.  "To-night  I've  seen  the 
whole  truth.  It  failed  because  it  was  not  good. 
The  scenes  read  well,  but  they  didn't  act.  The 
thing  itself  was  unreal,  too.  That  is  not  life — • 
and  so  it  is  not  true  drama.  I'm  no  good,  Chloe. 
I  haven't  real  talent.  I  have  brains  and  intelli- 
gence and  plenty  of  emotional  understanding-- 
good God,  too  much!  But  I  am  a  thousand 


180  THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS 

miles  from  being  a  playwright.  I  shall  never 
try  again."  He  spoke  quietly,  dully  even,  and 
Chloe  tried  to  answer  in  the  same  key. 

"Shouldn't  you  wait  a  few  days  before  you 
make  such  a  big  decision?" 

"What  is  there  to  wait  for?  I  shall  never 
see  more  clearly  than  I  see  right  now.  It  isn't 
as  if  I  were  willing  to  be  a  fifth-rate  hack, 
patching  things  together  to  please  the  public. 
The  public!"  His  voice  rose.  "Do  you  know 
what  I  heard  one  member  of  the  public  say,  as 
the  first  curtain  fell?  'Only  two  laughs  so  far.' 
And  the  woman  with  him  said,  'Yes,  and  she's 
worn  the  same  dress  right  through.' "  Then 
he  dropped  back  to  apathy.  "Well,  even  that 
was  my  fault,  of  course.  If  my  drama  had  been 
as  tense  as  it  felt  to  me,  even  those  sublime 
asses  would  have  forgotten  to  count  the  laughs 
and  the  gowns.  I  am  not  blaming  any  one  but 
myself  for  to-night's  failure.  I  feel  like  a  man 
who  has  been  struck  by  lightning,  and  got  new 
vision." 

"It's  hard,  Rawly !"  Chloe  longed  to  mother 
him  as  she  mothered  Billy  in  his  troubles.  "But 


THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS  181 

if  you  give  up,  right  off,  like  that,  what  have 
you  left — what  will  you  go  on  to?" 

He  shrank  physically,  and  she  saw  again  in 
his  face  the  look  of  harassed  awakening  that 
she  had  called  out  once  before,  picturing  a  fu- 
ture without  prosperity.  His  hands  rose  and 
fell  in  exasperated  protest. 

"Go  on  to?  Good  God,  how  do  I  know*? 
Shabbiness  and  scrimping  and  grinding — what 
can  the  failure  go  on  to,  if  he  has  the  misfor- 
tune to  live?"  He  turned  away,  haggard  eyes 
on  his  future.  Chloe  heard  him  muttering, 
"What  is  there?  What  is  left?"  as  he  closed 
his  door. 

"If  love  could  only  help  him — I  could  love 
him  now,"  she  thought  sadly. 

A  fear  of  where  despair  might  lead  Ralston 
allowed  Chloe  no  sleep.  In  the  early  morning 
she  heard  him  go  out,  and  guessed  it  was  for 
the  papers ;  but  dread  of  seeing  them  kept  her 
quiet.  The  others  were  still  asleep  when  the 
telephone  rang,  and  Ralston  answered  it. 

"Yes,  I'll  come,"  she  heard  him  say,  and 
knew  by  his  tone  that  Mrs.  Cartaret  was  hold- 


182  THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS 

ing  out  her  lovely  sympathy.  In  her  relief  from 
immediate  anxiety  Chloe  fell  asleep,  and  did 
not  awaken  until  a  quick  step  ran  up  the  stairs, 
several  hours  later.  It  must  be  Ralston's;  but 
its  lightness  and  the  brisk  closing  of  his  door 
made  her  hurry  her  dressing,  eager  to  know 
what  had  wrought  the  change.  Perhaps  the 
play  really  wasn't  a  failure,  after  all! 

She  opened  her  door  as  Ralston  flung  back 
his,  and  for  a  moment  he  flashed  on  her  like 
some  brilliant  stranger.  Never  before  had  she 
seen  so  vividly  his  upstanding  bodily  grace,  his 
boyish  beauty,  all  aflame  with  excitement.  His 
eyes  looked  straight  through  her,  and  it  seemed 
to  Chloe  that  they  expressed  astonishment,  an 
amazement  that  had  wiped  out  the  physical 
world  about  him.  He  did  not  speak  to  her,  and 
he  had  run  down  the  stairs  before  she  realized 
that  he  carried  a  bag.  The  slam  of  a  motor 
door  suggested  Mrs.  Cartaret  and  the  Sound, 
and  Chloe  hurried  down  to  the  papers  to  get 
the  rest  of  the  explanation. 

Sabra  was  not  home,  and  Mrs.  Gage  had 
probably  taken  Billy  out,  for  the  house  was 
empty.  The  papers  lay  wildly  about  the  sitting- 


JTHE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS  183 

room,  and  Chloe  gathered  them  together  with 
a  pulsing  hope.  Presently  the  first  was  thrown 
down  with  a  sound  of  protest ;  for  the  critic  had 
indulged  in  a  witty  malice  harder  to  bear  than 
any  denunciation  uttered  in  soberness  and 
truth.  His  notice  had  the  small,  stinging  cru- 
elty of  pebbles  flipped  in  the  face  by  an  unseen 
hand.  The  next  criticism  was  brief  and  bored. 
One  or  two  admitted  that  the  play  contained  an 
idea,  but,  sober  or  humorous,  patient  or  wrath- 
ful, the  condemnation  was  unanimous.  No  play 
could  survive  such  a  blast.  Chloe,  hot  with 
anger  and  shame,  bundled  them  together,  and 
had  started  up  to  put  them  forever  out  of  sight 
when  the  door-bell  made  her  drop  them.  It 
rang  sharply,  twice,  like  bad  news ;  Donald  Car- 
taret  had  his  hand  lifted  for  a  third  ring  as 
she  threw  back  the  door.  His  sleek  head  was 
ceremoniously  uncovered,  but  his  hard  eyes 
mocked  and  insulted.  Chloe  did  not  return  his 
greeting  or  ask  him  in;  she  only  stared  her 
dismay  with  childish  openness. 

"Is  your  brother  at  home?"  he  asked.  She 
shook  her  head,  so  obviously  incapable  of 
speech  that  a  note  of  impatience  escaped  him. 


184  THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS 

"Miss  Gage,  I  assure  you  that  I  carry  no  weap- 
ons.    But  I   am  most  anxious   to  see  your 
brother.    If  you  can  tell  me  when  he  will  be 
in — ?"    He  was  short  of  breath,  as  though  he 
had  been  hurrying,  and  some  suppressed  feel- 
ing shook  him  visibly,  making  him  suddenly 
less  formidable.    Chloe  found  her  voice. 
"I  can't  tell  you.    I  don't  know." 
"Could  you  possibly  let  me  wait?" 
He  would  have  come  in,  but  she  made  no 
move  to  admit  him.    At  his  stare  of  surprise, 
the  truth  broke  from  her. 

"I  wish  you  wouldn't  see  him  to-day!"  He 
would  have  spoken,  but  she  rushed  on.  "I  know 
just  how  you  feel — I  do  see  your  side,  truly. 
But  he  has  been  so  frightfully  upset  and  dis- 
appointed. If  you  could  just  wait  till  to-mor- 
row?" Her  eyes,  so  like  a  little  girl's  still, 
were  faltering  between  her  old  timidity  and 
her  new  courage.  "It  won't  make  any  differ- 
ence, you  know.  We  can't  help  it!" 

He  looked  at  her  with  arrested  attention. 
"You — know  how  I  feel?"  he  repeated. 

"Yes,  of  course."  A  shamed  flush  tried  to 
drown  her  out,  but  she  would  not  be  submerged. 


THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS  185 

"About  all  the  money  gone.  But  it  was  your 
mother's  own  idea,  to  back  us.  She  wanted  to. 
And  we  all  believed  in  the  play.  Letting  her  do 
it  was  a  frightful  mistake,  but,  honestly,  it 
wasn't — crooked.  I  saw  how  you  felt  that  day 
at  the  Sound,"  she  added  as  he  still  said  nothing. 

He  looked  away,  down  the  quiet  street  and 
then  at  his  boots.  "My  mother  is  welcome  to 
take  a  flyer  in  drama  if  she  pleases."  The  hard 
young  voice  seemed  to  be  feeling  its  way.  "I 
may  not  consider  it  wise,  but  I  should  not  at- 
tempt to  interfere  in  her — strictly  financial  af- 
fairs." 

In  her  relief,  Chloe  could  have  put  glad  arms 
about  Mr.  Donald  Cartaret's  unyielding  neck. 
"Then  it  wasn't  the  money?  You're  not  bit- 
ter about  that?"  she  cried. 

His  gaze  tried  to  pierce  to  her  very  soul. 
"Are  you  really  as  innocent  as  you  seem?"  The 
question,  half  mocking,  half  puzzled,  made  her 
recoil  so  sharply  that  he  apologized.  "I  beg 
your  pardon!  I  see  that  you  really  are;  and 
that  America  is  quite  as  wonderful  as  ever. 
One  forgets,  in  Paris.  Now  if  you  can  tell  me 
anything  about  your  brother's  movements — " 


186  THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS 

She  answered  stiffly:  "I  only  know  that  he 
ran  down-stairs  with  a  bag  about  an  hour — " 

The  simple  news  had  had  a  startling  effect. 
Mr.  Cartaret  jerked  out  his  watch,  looked 
blackly  about  as  though  for  a  cab,  then,  with  a 
muttered  excuse,  plunged  down  the  steps  and 
hurried  away.  Chloe  consciously  slammed  the 
door  upon  him.  He  had  taken  some  of  the 
burden  off  her  soul,  but  he  was  hateful  and  im- 
pertinent, and  she  never  wanted  to  see  him 
again.  "Innocent!"  What  did  he  mean,  and 
what  business  had  he  to  mean  it ! 

Mrs.  Gage  came  in  at  noon,  her  head  up  in 
a  semblance  of  the  old  spirit,  but  her  lips  driven 
together  in  a  new  line  of  discouragement.  She 
said  nothing  of  last  night.  Sabra,  too,  when 
she  came,  seemed  a  little  dimmed.  It  would 
have  been  a  silent  lunch  but  for  Billy.  At  the 
end,  when  he  had  trotted  out,  Sabra  pushed 
back  her  chair,  but  did  not  rise. 

"I  have  been  to  see  Mr.  Harper  Lindsley's 
son,"  she  began,  looking  straight  before  her 
over  folded  arms.  "I  thought  he  might  want 
to  carry  on  his  father's  projects;  but  he  is  a 
very  different  sort  of  man.  Very.  Not  at  all 


THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS  187 

abreast  of  the  times.  I  think  now  that  help 
from  such  a  source  would  be  a  mistake.  One 
would  be  hampered.  I  am  glad  I  found  it  out 
in  time." 

"What  did  he  say?"  Mrs.  Gage  asked  anx- 
iously. 

"Oh,  he  was  rather  coarse.  He  said  that  our 
membership  had  largely  passed  the  child-bear- 
ing age — as  if  that  had  anything  to  do  with  a 
principle !  But  I  imagine  he  had  some  idea  of 
being  humorous.  Well,  he  considered  me  a 
crank,  and  I  have  no  doubt  he  would  have  cdn- 
sidered  my  father  a  crank.  I  am  very  well 
satisfied  not  to  be  involved  with  him." 

Mrs.  Gage  could  not  echo  the  satisfaction. 
"Whom  will  you  try  next?"  she  asked. 

"I  have  several  projects."  Sabra  turned 
them  over  in  her  own  mind,  and  the  others 
waited  respectfully.  "I  might  start  a  maga- 
zine, something  for  the  modern,  intellectual 
woman.  The  Voice  would  be  a  good  title;  or 
The  New  Voice.  I  know  I  could  get  backing." 

Mrs.  Gage  never  met  any  project  with  ob- 
jections. Her  note  was  always  the  trumpet 
call,  sounding  the  advance.  "Splendid,  dear!" 


188  THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS 

she  said,  but  her  eyes  did  not  match  the  words, 
and  perhaps  Sabra  felt  a  difference,  for  she 
slowly  shook  her  head. 

"No;  it  would  take  too  much  of  my  time. 
Well,  I  wrote  several  days  ago  to  the  members 
of  my  board  of  managers,  telling  them  that  I 
might  have  to  resign,  as  Mr.  Lindsley's  contri- 
bution has  stopped.  I  shall  give  them  a  chance 
to  express  themselves  before  I  take  any  defi- 
nite steps." 

"Oh,  they  won't  let  you  resign!"  Mrs.  Gage 
was  relieved.  "What  is  it,  Lizzie — a  note  for 
me?  Why,  it's  from  Ralston,"  she  added,  and 
sighed  as  she  opened  the  envelope.  Then  her 
hands  dropped  and  a  cry  broke  from  her.  The 
two  girls  sprang  to  her  side,  and  they  read 
the  letter  together: 

"Dear  Mother — Mrs.  Cartaret  and  I  were 
married  half  an  hour  ago.  It  was  all  very  sud- 
den and  bewildering,  and  so  beautiful  that  I 
have  no  words  for  it.  There  was  not  time  to 
tell  you,  and  we  couldn't  stand  any  fuss,  so  we 
are  slipping  away  in  the  car  for  a  few  days.  I 
am  exquisitely  happy.  Helena  is  my  ideal  of  a 
gentlewoman,  and  she  understands  me  as  no 


THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS  189 

one  ever  has.  It  is  all  a  miracle  of  a  broken, 
bleeding  man  by  the  wayside  and  a  radiant 
angel. 

"When  we  settle  down,  Billy  will  come  to  us, 
of  course,  but  Helena  says  to  tell  Chloe  that  he 
will  always  be  her  little  boy.  We  both  send 
love. 

"RALSTON." 

At  first  there  seemed  nothing  to  say.  Sabra 
drew  away  from  the  letter  with  a  frown  of  dis- 
taste, but  a  process  of  adjustment  was  visibly 
going  on  behind  her  handsome  brow :  one  could 
see  her  rearranging  the  news  until  it  should 
present  just  the  fine,  right  aspect  necessary. 
Mrs.  Gage  had  sunk  back  in  her  chair,  and  over 
her  tired  face  a  look  of  peace  and  utter  relief 
was  stealing;  but  Chloe  stood  up  like  one  who 
has  drawn  a  sword. 

"Oh,  horrible,  hideous!"  The  low  voice, 
breaking  from  new  depths,  made  them  start. 
"Oh,  mother,  this  is  graft,  this  is  highway  rob- 
bery !  Oh,  I  might  have  seen  it  coming — others 
did!"  She  wrung  her  hands.  "Her  son  saw  it, 
and  came  over  to  stop  it,  and  he  hated  us  for  a 


190  THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS 

lot  of  leeches,  crawling  after  her  fortune.  And 
we  are — we  are!" 

"Chloe !"  Mrs.  Gage  had  sprung  up  to  put  an 
arm  about  her,  as  though  she  spoke  in  fever, 
but  Chloe  stood  stiff  and  unyielding  within  it. 

"No !  It's  true.  We  are  grafters,"  she  cried. 
"We  live  on  others.  We  have  done  ugly  things 
and  called  them  fine  names — but  let's  call  this 
marriage  what  it  is!" 

"Dearest—" 

"What  it  is!  Mrs.  Cartaret  is  a  dull,  good 
woman  who  has  lost  her  head,  and  Ralston  is  a 
selfish  beast  sixteen — eighteen  years  younger 
than  she  is.  He  didn't  plan  it — I'll  say  that, 
though  Donald  Cartaret  would  never  believe  it. 
But  he  took  it.  That's  what  Alex  said  of  him 
once — 'Lord  God,  what  that  man  won't  take!' 
And  I  quarreled  with  Alex  for  it."  She  sobbed 
without  tears,  beating  her  hands  together.  "I 
can't  stand  it.  I'm  done  with  the  family  way — 
the  Gage  way!" 

Sabra  said  nothing ;  her  stillness  was  as  rigid 
as  an  armor,  against  which  words  bounded 
off,  leaving  no  mark.  Mrs.  Gage,  troubled,  lov- 
ing, heard  only  wild  utterances  of  delirium. 


THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS  191 

"My  little  girl,  what  do  you  mean  ?  What  can 
you  do  ?"  she  urged. 

Chloe  knew,  at  last,  what  she  could  do. 

"Earn  my  living,"  she  cried.  "Earn  every- 
thing I  have  and  wear  and  do!  Oh,  I've  been 
worse  than  any  one,  for  I  knew — I've  seen  us  as 
we  were.  I  have  been  a  coward  and  a  shirk. 
Uncle  Harry  offered  me  a  position,  and  I 
laughed,  and  told  him  I  wasn't  'that  kind/  I'd 
rather  sponge !  I'm  going  to  him  now,  this  min- 
ute. If  he  won't  take  me,  I'll  go  from  place  to 
place  till  some  one  does.  Oh,  I  don't  feel  clean 
—I  don't  feel  clean!" 

She  ran  out  of  the  room,  up  to  her  own  sanc- 
tuary, but  she  would  not  break  down.  She  had 
a  task  to  do  now,  this  moment,  and  she  must  be 
fit  for  it.  When  she  came  down,  ten  minutes 
later,  Sabra  sat  unmoved,  a  little  pale,  but  still 
finely  impervious,  and  her  mother  stood  as  she 
had  been  left,  in  stricken  bewilderment,  but 
Chloe  did  not  see  them,  or  Billy,  nursing  his 
kitten  on  the  steps,  or  her  father  towering  over 
the  traffic  in  his  frock  coat,  the  top  hat  in  his 
hand. 

Uncle  Harry  spared  her  question  or  comment. 


192  THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS 

Perhaps  his  shy,  averted  gaze  saw  more  than  it 
seemed  to,  for  at  Chloe's  abrupt,  "I  want  work, 
Uncle  Harry — anything — any  kind — you  said 
once — •"  he  interposed  a  dry :  "All  right,  Chloe 
— take  off  your  coat,"  that  brought  her  down  to 
a  more  normal  level. 

"I've  kept  your  job  for  you — thought  you 
might  be  along,"  he  added,  as  he  shuffled  over 
to  a  counter  piled  with  blue-print  plans. 

"Now,  to-day?"  Chloe  exclaimed. 

"Why  not?    Aren't  you  ready?" 

She  threw  off  coat  and  hat.  "Oh,  so  ready! 
Only  it  seemed  too  good  to  be  true,"  she  said 
with  a  long  breath  of  relief. 

"Well,  Miss  Galbraith  here  has  been  doing 
your  work  and  hers  too;  she's  most  dead,"  he 
explained. 

The  ebbing  storm  in  Chloe  made  it  hard  for 
her  to  listen  to  directions,  but  she  bent  her- 
self fiercely  to  understanding,  and  if  she  some- 
times asked  the  same  question  twice,  Uncle 
Harry  did  not  appear  to  notice.  The  working 
world  about  her  gradually  took  the  girl  into  its 
ordered  steadiness.  The  clear,  clean,  empty 
office  with  its  straight  lines  and  straight  pur- 


THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS  193 

poses  had  the  cool  relief  of  mathematics  after 
turgid  poetry.  The  plans  of  houses  and  apart- 
ments needed  sorting,  and  as  she  worked  over 
them  they  took  on  personality  to  Chloe.  So 
many  homes,  waiting  for  their  histories !  When 
a  young  couple  came  in  wanting  five  rooms 
and  bath  in  a  nice  neighborhood,  she  threw  her- 
self into  the  quest  with  an  ardor  that  sent  them 
off  full  of  hope  and  addresses.  Then  she  dis- 
covered that  Uncle  Harry  was  looking  on  with 
the  amused  smile  that  always  made  her  aware 
of  his  great  affection. 

"Yes— all  right,  Chloe,"  he  drawled.  "Fine! 
Only  just  don't  let  'em  think  you're  going  to 
live  with  'em,  too.  You  said  'we'  could  use  the 
alcove  for  an  extra  bedroom."  And  so  Chloe's 
young  laugh  was  ringing  out  in  the  bare  room, 
not  two  hours  after  she  had  come  there  crushed 
with  shame. 

Uncle  Harry  kept  her  till  after  closing  time, 
and  they  went  home  together.  In  the  dusk,  her 
hand  under  his  arm,  Chloe  could  speak. 

"You  were  there,  last  night,"  she  said.  "You 
saw  it  fail." 

"Well,  I've  been  to  worse  plays,  once  or 


194  THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS 

twice,"  was  the  mild  answer.  "I  thought  some 
of  it  was  pretty  good,  for  Rawly.  I  almost 
clapped  once." 

Chloe  shuddered.    "Oh,  it  was  horrible!" 

He  nodded  his  understanding.  "I  sort  of 
thought  it  might  bring  you  down  to-day." 

"It  wasn't  Ralston's  failure  that  did  that, 
Uncle  Harry.  It  was  his  success,"  she  said 
with  bitterness.  "He  married  Mrs.  Cartaret 
this  morning." 

Uncle  Harry  stopped  short,  and  a  faint  whis- 
tle followed.  Then  he  trudged  on. 

"By  George,  I  didn't  know  Rawly  had  so 
much  sense,"  he  said  at  last;  "or  Helena  Car- 
taret so  little.  Well,  well!  It  will  take  ten 
years  off  your  mother,  Chloe." 

"It  has  put  ten  years  on  me !" 

His  nod  accepted  that.  "She's  a  shy  woman," 
he  went  on  presently.  "I  wonder  what  she  said 
when  she  asked  him!"  Chloe  gave  his  arm  a 
grateful  squeeze. 

"We  know  he  didn't  scheme  for  it,  but  others 
won't.  And  oh,  what  that  dreadful  son  must 
have  been  saying  to  her!  I'm  glad  on  his  ac- 
count, anyway,"  she  added  vindictively. 


THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS  195 

"Yes.  Rawly  won't  be  much  comfort  to  him 
as  a  step-father,"  Uncle  Harry  assented. 

She  had  gone  on  to  his  door,  and,  pausing 
there,  she  laid  her  cheek  against  his  shoulder. 
"Oh,  I  am  so  glad  you  kept  a  place  for  me !  So 
grateful !"  she  whispered.  He  was  too  diffident 
to  respond  to  the  caress. 

"Oh,  I  guessed  you'd  be  along,"  he  said,  jin- 
gling his  keys. 

The  day's  traffic  had  died  down,  the  neighbor- 
hood was  getting  and  eating  its  supper,  and 
Sereno  Gage  stood  alone  in  a  quiet  street. 
Chloe  paused  at  the  broken  palings  to  lay  the 
long,  hard  day  before  him. 

"You  and  my  Billy — both  leaving  me !"  The 
realization  brought  her  head  down  on  her  arms, 
but  in  a  moment  it  was  up  again.  "I  can't  lose 
either  of  you,  really,"  she  comforted  him ;  "and 
I  can  work !  I  need  never  again  take  and  wince 
and  suffer  about  money  things.  I'm  on  my  own 
two  feet,  and  I'm  captain  of  my  soul.  I  have 
made  my  protest,  father — I  have  taken  my 
stand !"  She  spoke  the  last  words  aloud,  and  so 
real  was  he  to  her  that  she  heard  his  answer: 

"Go  on,  little  Chloe;  I  bless  you!" 


CHAPTER  VII 

CHLOE  found  her  mother  and  sister  appar- 
ently as  she  had  left  them,  waiting  for 
her  in  the  dining-room.  They  might  justifiably 
have  met  her  with  coldness,  but  Mrs.  Gage's 
"Well,  my  little  girl !"  was  the  tender  welcome 
of  all  her  life,  with  only  a  note  of  anxiety  added, 
as  though  her  little  girl  had  possibly  been  hurt. 
Sabra  was  tranquil  and  pleasant  as  usual,  and 
not  till  long  afterward  did  Chloe  realize  the 
faint  aloofness  that  had  begun  on  that  day,  and 
was  never  to  change.  It  was  not  resentful, 
perhaps  not  even  conscious ;  merely  the  instinc- 
tive, cautious  withdrawal  of  a  person  who  car- 
ries something  very  precious,  but  fragile,  from 
a  jostling  neighborhood.  In  her  gratitude  that 
they  did  not  hate  her,  Chloe  made  a  happy  tale 
of  her  application  for  work  and  its  startlingly 
immediate  result. 

"I  do  love  it,"  she  said.    "The  house  won't  be 
196 


,  so  nice,  mother;  but  wait  till  I  give  you  my 
first  pay  envelope  I" 

"I  think  we  might  get  a  better  girl  than  Liz- 
zie," Mrs.  Gage  began  reluctantly. 

"Oh,  I  wish  we  could,"  Chloe  exclaimed.  "She 
isn't  a  friendly  girl.  She  won't  love  me,"  she 
added,  with  a  laugh  at  herself.  "Can't  we 
change  right  now?" 

Mrs.  Gage  had  an  objection,  but  found  diffi- 
culty in  wording  it.  "She  is  nice  about  wait- 
ing for  her  money,"  she  said  at  last.  "Some 
girls  are  cross  if  it  is  a  day  late.  You  see,  it 
was  just  time  for  Sabra's  check  when  Mr. 
Lindsley  died."  She  was  apologetic,  as  though 
confessing  to  bad  management. 

"Never  mind.  I  shall  have  money  soon," 
Chloe  comforted  her,  and  felt  a  new  and  thrill- 
ing pride  in  her  own  power.  "I  do  love  Uncle 
Harry!"  she  cried. 

In  the  morning  Chloe  jumped  up  with  a  for- 
gotten buoyancy  and  went  off  importantly  to 
her  work.  She  was  gone  before  Mrs.  Gage  had 
opened  her  mail,  and  so  knew  nothing  of  the 
curt  notice  that  ended  the  hope  of  saving  Se- 
reno  Gage.  The  statue  was  to  come  down  in 


198  THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS 

two  days'  time,  and  the  suggestion  that  it  be 
put  up  somewhere  else  had  been  found  imprac- 
ticable. A  dry  official  regret  closed  the  subject. 
Mrs.  Gage  and  Sabra  discussed  it  over  a  late 
breakfast,  agreeing  sadly  that  there  was  noth- 
ing to  be  done.  They  were  careful  not  to  speak 
of  it  before  Billy,  feeling  that  only  Chloe  could 
make  the  loss  comprehensible  to  him. 

The  mail  had  brought  better  news  to  Sabra. 
The  ladies  of  the  eugenics  board  of  managers, 
hastily  called  together,  were  coming  to  her  re- 
lief with  a  course  of  drawing-room  lectures. 
Already  they  had  the  drawing-room  and  the 
right  patronage;  it  remained  only  to  sell  the 
tickets  and  compose  the  lectures.  Sabra  was 
in  conference  over  the  telephone  half  the  morn- 
ing, and  she  walked  as  though  an  endless  plat- 
form stretched  under  her  happy  feet. 

"Afterward  I  can  give  the  same  course 
through  the  West,"  she  told  her  mother.  "I  shall 
write  to  prominent  club  members  and  ask  them 
to  work  it  up  for  me.  And  these  will  lead  to 
other  drawing-room  courses  here — it  will  grow 
very  fast.  I  shall  earn  a  good  living  with  a 
fraction  of  my  time." 


THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS  199 

Mrs.  Gage  gave  her  unfailing  glowing  re- 
sponse. "Splendid,  dear!  You're  launched 
now,  and  I  am  sure  you  deserve  it.  What  shall 
you  lecture  about?"  she  added. 

"Oh,  that  will  be  easy,"  said  Sabra. 

Billy  found  the  day  rather  long.  Granny 
was  good  to  him,  but  she  answered  his  stirring 
communications  with  her  love  rather  than  with 
her  attention,  and  he  missed  his  Toto's  ever- 
ready  interest.  Granny  took  him  down  to  the 
statue  for  good  night,  but  the  excursion  lacked 
savor,  and  then  she  had  visitors,  so  Lizzie  had 
to  give  him  his  supper  in  the  kitchen.  Lizzie 
had  hard,  bony  hands  that  tied  bibs  with  a  jerk 
and  rattled  down  dishes  as  though  little  boys 
were  too  much  trouble  to  be  endured.  Billy  ate 
meekly.  No  one  praised  him  when  he  got  to 
the  bottom  of  his  mug,  or  enjoyed  with  him  the 
gradual  uncovering  of  the  rose  that  bloomed 
under  the  cereal.  His  loneliness  at  last  drove 
him  to  speech. 

"My  Toto  has  gone  to  work,"  he  offered. 

Lizzie's  mutter  was  not  encouraging,  but 
presently  he  tried  again. 

"My  granny  took  me  down  to  say  good  night, 


200  THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS 

and  she's  going  to  buy  my  granfaver  a  goP 
fence,  but  she  thinks  not  just  now.  Perhaps 
some  ovver  time." 

"M'm !  She  won't  be  buying  him  no  fence," 
Lizzie  said,  thrusting  her  bony  face  almost  into 
the  oven.  "They're  going  to  pull  him  down  and 
throw  him  away." 

Billy  turned  a  sudden  red  and  shook  a  threat- 
ening spoon.  "They  not  going  to  pull  'im 
down !"  he  shouted. 

Lizzie,  straightening  up,  smiled,  the  terrible 
smile  of  power  that  holds  weakness  in  its  grasp. 
"Yes,  they  are  so.  I  read  it  in  the  papers,  and 
I  heard  your  granny  say  it,  too.  They're  go- 
ing to  pull  him  down  and  put  him  on  an  old 
dump  cart  and  throw  him  on  the  ash-heap.  So 
there!" 

For  all  her  size  and  years,  she  was  only  a 
spiteful  child,  not  knowing  what  she  did.  Billy 
slipped  to  the  floor,  tugging  at  his  bib,  and 
something  in  his  face  made  her  add  a  hasty : 

"Oh,  now,  don't  you  be  a  baby,  Billy.  Here's 
a  cookie." 

The  cookie  fell  unheeded  to  the  floor  and 
Billy  ran  to  his  granny;  but  the  strangers 


THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS  201 

were  still  there,  and  he  dared  not  go  in.  No 
Sabra  was  up-stairs,  no  Toto  had  come  home. 
His  father  represented  to  Billy  one  vast,  per- 
manent prohibition  against  interruption,  but 
in  his  distress  he  even  pattered  to  the  room 
from  which  the  exasperated  demand  for  quiet 
had  so  often  burst  out  at  him.  It  was  empty. 
In  all  the  house  there  was  no  help,  and  mo- 
ments were  flying. 

The  front  door  was  unlatched,  for  Billy  was 
allowed  to  play  on  the  sidewalk,  and  he  ran 
out,  but  even  now  his  obedient  little  feet 
stopped  at  the  familiar  boundary-line.  He 
meant  only  to  wait  there  for  Toto,  who  could 
make  everything  right;  but  soon  a  dire  sound 
brought  a  terror  that  wiped  out  law.  Down 
the  block  came  bumping  a  city  ash  cart,  headed 
straight  for  the  corner  round  which  stood  the 
beloved  presence. 

Billy  shouted  at  it,  furiously,  stamping  his 
foot,  sobbing  in  his  impotence;  the  driver  did 
not  even  glance  over  his  averted  shoulder. 
Billy  panted  after  him.  There  were  people 
in  the  street,  but  a  stray  child,  even  a  crying 
child,  was  too  familiar  a  sight  in  that  neigh- 


202  THE  SEED  OF,  THE  RIGHTEOUS 

borhood  to  draw  attention.  At  the  corner  the 
cart  turned  and  bumped  off  up  the  street. 
Sereno  Gage,  standing  in  his  accustomed  place, 
was  for  the  moment  safe,  but  Billy  knew  how 
ash  carts  abounded.  He  looked  uncertainly 
back  toward  the  shelter  of  home,  and  wist- 
fully up  the  street  for  Toto,  then  down  to  the 
dear  grandfather,  all  alone  in  his  mortal  peril ; 
and  the  great  need  to  rescue,  that  was  to  domi- 
nate and  direct  all  his  life,  wiped  out  fear.  He 
braved  the  traffic  and,  crawling  through  a  gap 
in  the  palings,  planted  himself  at  the  statue's 
base. 

"I'm  here,  granfaver,"  he  called.  "Don't 
you  be  afraid.  I'm  here !" 

To  the  passing  world,  he  was  only  a  play- 
ing child.  The  streets  were  growing  dim  and 
quiet,  but  Billy  stayed  at  his  post,  his  heart  big 
with  protective  love.  Whenever  a  coming 
vehicle  seemed  to  bump  like  an  ash  cart,  he 
sent  up  his  reassuring  whisper:  "I'm  right 
here!"  But  it  was  desolate  and  unnerving 
work  for  a  little  boy  whose  bedtime  had  al- 
ready passed.  He  kept  up  bravely  until,  com- 


THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS  203 

ing  slowly  home  from  work,  he  saw  his  own 
Toto.  Then  his  spirit  melted  within  him  and 
he  stumbled  out  between  the  palings,  baby 
arms  up  for  comfort,  weeping  his  bitter  tale. 
She  caught  him  close,  and  at  every  stammered, 
"Lizzie  said — "  she  grew  sterner  and  straighter 
behind  the  pitiful  tenderness  that  was  mother- 
ing him.  He  was  hurried  back  to  the  house, 
where  he  had  just  been  missed,  and  when  she 
had  him  soothed  and  undressed,  Chloe  told  him 
how  the  streets  were  growing  so  crowded  that 
perhaps  grandfather  could  not  live  there  any 
longer,  so  he  was  thinking  of  moving  away  to 
give  the  wagons  and  motors  more  room.  The 
ash  cart  still  haunted  Billy,  but  when  he  had 
been  assured  that  that  was  only  a  wicked  lie, 
he  grew  cheerful  again. 

"If  he  goes  away  too  far  for  me  to  see  him, 
I  can  write  him  letters,"  he  explained,  and  at 
last  fell  asleep.  Chloe,  tucking  him  in,  saw 
that  his  hands  twitched  and  that  muttered 
words  echoed  the  past  storm,  and  she  went 
down-stairs  hot  with  purpose. 

"Mother,  Lizzie  has  got  to  go,  to-night,"  she 


204  THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS 

demanded,  and  told  Billy's  tale.  "She  is  bad, 
cruel.  She  hurt  him  deliberately.  I  don't  want 
him  ever  to  see  her  again." 

Mrs.  Gage  hated  to  remind  her.  "You  know, 
we  owe  her  a  month's  wages,  darling.  She 
wouldn't  go  without  her  money." 

"And  we  have  just  to  sit  down  under  this? 
Say  nothing?"  Chloe  blazed. 

"I'm  afraid  so,  Toto.  But  it  is  only  for  a 
little  while.  You  haven't  heard  about  Sabra's 
lectures  yet." 

Chloe  had  no  attention  for  Sabra.  "Oh,  and 
I  'didn't  care  about  money'!"  she  cried.  "It 
seems  as  if  all  the  humiliations  of  life  came 
through  not  having  it." 

Her  mother  had  an  inspiration.  "I  could 
borrow  it  from  the  fund,  dear!  I've  got  all 
that  money  up  in  my  tin  box — I  was  afraid  it 
would  get  drawn  on,  in  the  bank.  If  you  say 
so—" 

Chloe  was  tempted ;  then  she  shook  her  head. 
"No.  That's  the  way  people  embezzle.  They 
borrow,  just  for  a  few  days,  and  then  they 
can't  put  it  back.  No;  we  will  stand  it  till  I 


THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS  205 

can  pay  her,  and  then  I  shall  tell  her  what  I 
think.  It  will  keep!  How  did  she  know?" 

Mrs.  Gage  reluctantly  brought  out  the  no- 
tice, which  had  been  discussed  at  the  breakfast 
table.  Chloe  took  it  quietly.  She  had  known 
long  ago  that  there  was  no  hope. 

"The  ninth:  that  will  be  Friday,"  she  said. 
"Mother,  we  must  take  Billy  away  that  day.  I 
couldn't  bear  to  have  him  see  it  happen.  He 
would  never  get  over  it." 

Mrs.  Gage  admitted  that  she  wanted  to  be 
away  herself.  "The  ninth  is  the  last  of  the 
Babies'  Outings,"  she  said.  "I  ought  to  go  on 
it,  anyway;  I  have  shirked  them  this  summer. 
I'll  go  and  take  Billy." 

Chloe  was  reluctant.  "I  hate  those  crowded 
boats,"  she  confessed. 

"We  have  every  safeguard,  dear.  You  don't 
think  we  would  let  those  poor  mothers  run  any 
risk?" 

"Of  course  you  wouldn't,"  she  had  to  admit. 

Sabra  also  was  to  be  away  on  Friday,  de- 
livering an  address  out  of  town.  Chloe  worked 
late  on  Thursday  night,  shrinking  from  the 


206  THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS 

good-by  that  awaited  her,  and  walked  home 
with  Uncle  Harry.  He  knew,  but  she  could 
trust  him  not  to  speak  of  it.  He  had  not  yet 
spoken  of  Alex,  either,  but  to-night  the  name 
suddenly  came  out. 

"That  Alex,"  he  began,  "he's  sold  his  dynamo 
thing.  I  don't  know  what  it  is — can't  make 
head  or  tail  of  it;  but  it  improves  something. 
Or  they  think  it  does.  Anyway,  he's  going  to 
get  five  thousand  dollars  and  a  part  interest. 
That's  not  so  bad." 

"It  is  very  good,"  said  Chloe,  trying  to  speak 
with  impersonal  friendliness.  The  news,  which 
would  once  have  given  her  such  joy,  had  fallen 
like  a  blow;  it  showed  Alex  as  going  on  bril- 
liantly to  success  and  happiness,  his  old  need 
of  her  forgotten.  "He  must  be  very  glad,"  she 
added,  more  desolately  than  she  knew. 

"Yes;  he's  pleased."  Uncle  Harry's  speech 
was  so  averted  that  the  back  of  his  head  was 
toward  her.  "He's  a  glum  sort  of  a  fellow, 
though.  I  used  to  think  he  was  rather  jolly, 
but  if  he  was,  he  has  got  over  it." 

The  unspoken  message,  with  its  hint  of  com- 


THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS  207 

fort,  brought  her  hand  under  his  arm  and  made 
difficult  speech  possible. 

"You  can  forgive  an  insult  to  yourself,"  she 
said,  "but  you  can't  forgive  an  insult  to  some 
one  you  love.  It  isn't  right  to  forgive  it,  Uncle 
Harry!" 

They  had  paused,  facing  the  statue,  where 
their  ways  parted. 

"H'm — insult,"  he  repeated  thoughtfully.  "I 
wonder  if  insults  matter  much,  Chloe?" 

"But,  if  they  don't,  what  does  matter?" 

"Why,  what  the  fellow  meant,  I  should  say. 
If  he  means  to  insult  you — well,  that's  one 
thing;  but  if  he  is  just  blurting  out  what  he 
thinks  is  the  truth — and  most  insults  are 
that—" 

"You  might  forgive  it,  in  one  sense,  but  you 
would  never  forget  it,"  Chloe  broke  in,  all  the 
more  hotly  because  of  the  sudden,  clamorous 
beating  of  her  heart,  which  had  leaped  as 
though  in  response  to  good  news.  "Good  night. 
I'll  see  you  in  the  morning." 

Uncle  Harry  trudged  on,  a  quaint  figure, 
his  big  white  head  set  bird-fashion  on  his 


208  THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS 

stubby  coat.  His  walk  had  always  dragged 
since  the  day  his  wife  died.  Chloe  ran  home. 
She  could  not  face  her  good-by  just  now. 

The  shadow  of  to-morrow  lay  on  the  little 
house.  Mrs.  Gage  was  cheerful  when  she 
spoke,  but  fell  into  frequent  silences,  her  lips 
pressed  together  in  a  line  that  hurt  Chloe 
worse  than  tears.  Sabra  was  uneasy  and 
talked  fluently  of  her  lectures,  as  though  to 
ward  off  mention  of  anything  that  was  sad  and 
could  not  be  made  to  seem  otherwise.  The 
loving  courtesy  of  Mrs.  Gage's  attention,  so 
persistently  called  from  her  own  thoughts, 
made  Chloe  long  to  cry  out,  "Let  her  alone!" 
She  was  glad  when  Billy's  voice  demanded  her 
up-stairs. 

The  evening  was  sultry  and  airless,  and 
Billy  could  not  go  to  sleep.  She  sang  him 
drowsy  songs  and  told  stories,  but  when  he  de- 
manded the  tale  of  the  "li'l  children  in  the 
f  ractory,"  her  breath  caught  and  she  could  not 
go  on. 

"Billy,"  she  said,  jumping  up,  "I  think  a 
little  walk  might  make  you  sleepy.  I'm  going 
to  slip  on  your  clothes  and  take  you  out." 


THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS  209 

Billy  was  enchanted.  They  made  a  secret 
of  the  expedition,  stealing  down  the  stairs 
without  a  sound,  for  Chloe  did  not  want  her 
mother  to  guess  where  they  were  going.  Billy 
had  a  finger  on  his  lips,  his  eyes  were  gleam- 
ing slits  of  laughter  as  they  escaped  uncaught 
by  the  front  door.  They  turned  hand  in  hand 
to  the  corner. 

"You  see,  grandfather  might  move  any  day 
now,"  Chloe  said  casually.  "It  is  too  noisy 
here.  And  besides,  when  the  wagons  are  so 
crowded,  people  sometimes  get  hurt — and  you 
know  how  he  would  hate  that." 

"Yes;  I  guess  he's  got  to  move,"  Billy  as- 
sented, and  presently  was  shouting  it  all  up 
through  the  palings,  while  Chloe  looked  up 
over  his  head  into  the  shadowy  face  of  her 
father. 

"Everything  is  changing  and  going,"  she  told 
him.  "And  I  have  lost  Alex — he  doesn't  care 
any  more.  If  he  did,  he  would  try  to  make  me 
forgive  him.  I  shall  miss  you  every  day  of  my 
life.  But  I  will  work,  and  I'll  keep  close  to 
Billy,  and  I'll  take  care  of  mother — I'll  do  my 
best.  Goodnight!" 


210  THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS 

She  put  her  hand  down,  blindly,  for  the  little 
boy's. 

"Good  night,  grandfaver.  When  you  move 
into  the  country,  Toto  will  write  you  a  letter 
and  I'll  put  kisses  in  it,"  Billy  promised.  At 
the  corner  he  hung  back  to  shout  further  as- 
surances, but  Chloe  did  not  turn  her  head. 

They  slipped  in  undiscovered  and  Billy  was 
soon  asleep,  but  Chloe  sat  by  him  in  the  dark 
until  the  insistent  monologue  below  ceased  and 
Sabra  at  last  went  to  bed.  Then  Chloe  would 
have  gone  down,  but,  looking  into  the  sitting- 
room  from  the  stairs,  she  paused  there.  Mrs. 
Gage  sat  erect  beside  the  lamp,  an  open  maga- 
zine under  quietly  folded  hands,  her  eyes  sor- 
rowfully fixed  but  her  undefeated  head  well  up. 

"She  doesn't  want  me  now,"  Chloe  thought, 
and  curled  down  where  she  was,  her  head  on 
her  knees,  to  keep  silent  vigil.  After  a  long 
time  Mrs.  Gage  rose,  automatically  putting  a 
scarf  about  her  shoulders.  Chloe  knew  where 
she  was  going,  and  shrank  back  into  the 
shadow  as  her  mother  passed  out  the  front 
door. 


THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS  211 

"She  will  want  me  when  she  comes  back," 
she  thought,  and  waited  at  the  foot  of  the 
stairs,  seeing  with  intolerable  clearness  the 
lonely  figure  of  Sereno  Gage  out  in  the  little 
park  and  his  gaunt  old  wife  standing  at  his 
feet.  She  was  not  gone  long.  Chloe  expected 
her  to  creep  back,  broken ;  but  it  was  a  strong 
step  that  presently  came  down  the  block.  She 
stood  at  full  height,  more  than  ever  the  stanch 
old  soldier,  as  she  threw  back  the  door.  Her 
eyes  fell  on  Chloe  without  surprise. 

"You  can't  pull  down  Sereno  Gage!"  The 
voice  was  exalted,  almost  joyful.  "He'll  go  on, 
marching  on — they  can't  pull  down  what  he 
did  and  was.  The  statue  doesn't  matter  any 
longer;  his  work  lives.  It's  all  right!"  Then 
she  saw  that  the  face  lifted  to  hers  was  tremu- 
lous, tear  marked.  Her  hand  fell  strongly  on 
her  daughter's  shoulder.  "Don't  cry  about 
things,  Chloe !  Do  your  level  best,  and  then  go 
on  to  the  next  thing.  Crying  means  sitting1 
down,  and  you  don't  want  to  sit  down  even  to 
rejoice.  There  isn't  time!"  She  looked  about 
her  as  though  seeing  her  world  with  renewed 


212  THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS 

eyes,  then  she  went  on  up-stairs  like  a  general 
who  has  spoken  to  a  private,  and  passes  on 
forgetting  him. 

There  are  days  that  are  strange  even  if  noth- 
ing happens  on  them.  Their  color  is  different, 
the  air  has  an  unfamiliar  feeling.  In  some 
lands  the  people  say,  "Earthquake  weather!" 
— not  from  any  scientific  connection,  but  be- 
cause something  big  and  unnatural  seems  im- 
pending. That  Friday  morning  dawned  in 
breathless  stillness;  the  air,  sweet,  heavy, 
tepid,  lay  with  a  palpable  weight  on  the  lifted 
face;  a  faint  apricot  glow  gave  the  streets  an 
unearthly  charm,  and  there  was  a  breath  of 
wood  smoke.  Chloe,  after  she  had  left  the 
house,  went  back  again. 

"It's  a  queer  day,  mother;  anything1  could 
happen,"  she  began  uneasily.  "I  should  hate 
to  have  you  and  Billy  on  that  boat  in  a  bad 
thunder-storm." 

Mrs.  Gage  indulgently  came  to  the  door. 
"Why,  it  is  just  September  haze,  Toto;  and  we 
could  always  put  in  somewhere.  We  don't  go 


THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS  213 

far  out,  you  know.  You  mustn't  grow  nervous, 
dear." 

"Oh,  I  know  it  is  all  right;"  but  Chloe  still 
lingered.  It  seemed  to  her  that  her  mother 
stood  feebly  this  morning1,  and  that  her  face 
looked  very  old.  "I  am  glad  Katy  is  taking  her 
grandnieces,"  she  said.  "Make  her  look  out  for 
Billy,  mother,  and  you  just  rest." 

"I  will.  I  shall  enjoy  it,  dear.  Now — which 
way  are  you  going?" 

"Oh,  round  by  the  alley,"  said  Chloe  quickly. 
Her  mother  nodded  her  understanding.  They 
would  neither  of  them  pass  the  familiar  way 
that  day. 

"But  it  is  a  long  way  round  for  you,"  she 
said.  "Mrs.  Van  Dusen  is  sending  her  car  to 
take  us  over  to  the  dock ;  I'm  sure  she  wouldn't 
mind  having  it  come  earlier  and  drop  you  at 
the  office.  Shan't  I  telephone  her  again,  dear? 
It  won't  take  a  minute." 

"Oh,  no!"  Chloe  spoke  impulsively,  but  it 
was  no  day  on  which  to  make  protests,  and  she 
added  a  softening,  "I  want  a  walk.  I  shall  be 
in  all  day."  They  kissed  each  other  and  ex- 


214  THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS 

changed  little  aimless  family  remarks  about 
dinner  and  wraps,  neither  wholly  conscious  of 
what  was  said.  Chloe,  going  off  in  the  new 
direction,  glanced  back  at  the  turning  and  saw 
the  tall  figure  still  on  the  steps.  She  lifted  her 
hand,  and  her  mother's  hand  answered,  waving 
her  on. 

"It  is  as  if  one  of  the  family  were  going  to 
be  hanged  to-day,"  she  thought ;  then  shook  her- 
self with  a  hot  demand  for  common  sense  and 
hurried  to  the  office. 

September  was  the  renting  month  and  the 
home  hunters  streamed  in  all  day.  At  lunch 
time  Uncle  Harry  took  her  over  a  new  building 
in  which  the  apartments  could  be  altered  to 
suit  the  tenant,  and  Chloe  became  so  absorbed 
in  the  possible  rearrangements  of  partition 
walls  that  they  lunched  with  plans  spread  be- 
tween them  and  pencils  in  their  hands.  The 
merciful  anodyne  of  work  had  wiped  out  every- 
thing else. 

"You  were  made  for  this  business,"  he  told 
her  as  they  went  back  to  the  office.  "You've 
got  the  housekeeping  eye." 

"But  Sabra   must  have   been   wonderful," 


THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS  215 

Chloe  said  a  little  wistfully.  "She  could  talk 
to  them  so  well." 

"Yes,"  he  drawled.  "Oh,  yes;  Sabra  can 
talk.  But  you  really  care." 

Her  look  was  a  startled  question ;  but  she  did 
not  ask  it.  "I  don't  see  how  you  kept  the  place 
for  me,"  she  said,  instead ;  "or  why !" 

"Well,  I  sort  of  expected  you,"  was  all  he 
would  say. 

The  air  had  grown  heavier,  the  streets  ended 
in  a  gray  blur,  but  the  sense  of  strangeness  had 
gone  off  the  day,  and  Chloe  thought  only  of 
getting  back  to  work.  Uncle  Harry's  praise 
was  very  precious.  She  would  increase  his 
business,  grow  so  valuable  to  him  that  Alex, 
seeing  her  prosperous  and  respected,  would  be 
ashamed  of  his  harsh  words  and  would  come 
humbly  back  to —  Here  the  office  door  swung 
shut  on  dreams,  and  she  flew  to  work  again. 
In  the  middle  of  the  afternoon  the  foghorns 
began  to  bleat  in  the  river.  The  sound  was  so 
faint  and  so  familiar  that  Chloe  did  not  notice 
it  until  she  realized  that  lights  were  being 
turned  on. 

"It  can't  be  so  late  as  that,"  she  exclaimed. 


216  THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS 

"Why,  it's  not  half  past  four!"  Then,  looking 
from  clock  to  window,  she  saw  the  gray  inva- 
sion. Only  a  dim  spire  or  two  and  a  single 
line  of  roofs  remained  of  the  city  that  had 
spread  its  bright  miles  in  the  morning  glow. 

"I  wish  to  ask  about  residences  on  the  upper 
west — "  the  voice  brought  Chloe's  troubled 
stare  back  from  the  window,  but  the  request 
had  to  be  repeated.  She  did  her  part  mechan- 
ically, inwardly  raging  at  the  feminine  expan- 
siveness  that  could  not  seek  a  dwelling  without 
explaining  the  size,  ages,  habits  and  charms  of 
the  three  daughters  who  must  each  have  a  good 
room.  The  moment  she  was  released,  she  ran 
to  Uncle  Harry's  inner  office;  but  he  had  gone 
out.  His  secretary,  a  large,  friendly  girl, 
looked  up  from  her  work  to  proffer  help. 

"I  suppose  I'm  silly,"  Chloe  explained,  "but 
my  mother  and  my  little  nephew  are  out  on  an 
excursion  boat  in  this  fog.  Of  course  it  is  all 
right — it  always  is,  and  you  have  got  yourself 
wrought  up  for  nothing!  But  I  think  I  shall 
have  to  go.  It  makes  me  so  uneasy." 

Miss  Galbraith  was  all  kindness.  She  tele- 
phoned to  the  house  while  Chloe  was  putting  on 


THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS  217 

her  things,  and  though  they  were  not  back  yet, 
she  was  so  sure  they  would  be  by  the  time  one 
reached  home  that  Chloe  set  off  reassured.  But, 
once  in  the  street,  uneasiness  turned  to  real 
fright.  This  was  no  ordinary  fog.  The  end 
of  every  block  was  lost,  and  the  tall  buildings 
were  cut  off  waist  high.  Cars  were  moving 
slowly,  clanging  their  gongs.  There  was  a 
breath  of  ocean,  and  a  chill,  faint  at  first,  but 
boring  in  deeper  and  deeper  with  every  gray 
moment.  No  time  for  going  the  long  way 
round  now!  Chloe  jumped  off  her  car  at  the 
nearest  corner,  steadying  her  heart  to  meet  the 
shock  of  the  little  park's  emptiness;  but  here 
the  fog  was  kind.  The  broken  street  was 
dimmed,  and  behind  the  soft,  veiling  confusion 
Sereno  Gage  might  still  have  been  waiting. 

"Oh,  everything  is  all  right.  Of  course,  I 
really  know  that,"  Chloe  said  stoutly  as  she 
ran  home. 

The  house  was  dark  and  empty,  but  Chloe 
at  once  knew  that  it  was  not  really  time  for 
them  yet.  Even  in  clear  weather  they  did  not 
get  home  much  before  this.  She  had  been 
absurd  to  expect  them. 


218  THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS 

"I  will  just  run  down  to  the  wharf  to  meet 
them,"  she  said  brightly  to  Lizzie.  "Tell  my 
sister  where  I  am,  if  she  gets  home  first.  But 
she  probably  won't."  Lizzie  looked  as  if  she 
were  about  to  say  something  dubious  and  dis- 
couraging, and  Chloe  fled  from  it,  giving  her 
no  chance.  Yet  two  words  followed  her : 

"Them  boats—" 

A  slammed  door  cut  off  the  rest,  but  the 
words,  or  the  voice  that  launched  them  after 
her,  haunted  Chloe  as  she  made  her  difficult 
way  to  the  wharf.  She  had  to  take  a  car  that 
ran  at  long  intervals  down  black,  forgotten 
streets,  and  to  pass,  slipping  on  greasy  cob- 
blestones, between  thundering  drays,  in  a  con- 
fusion that  was  neither  light  nor  darkness, 
before  at  last  she  reached  the  pier.  No 
home-coming  crowd  was  streaming  from  it. 

"Them  boats — "  the  words  beat  on  her  brain 
like  a  tolling  bell.  Chloe  turned  on  them.  "Do 
you  think  they'd  take  any  risk  with  those  poor 
mothers?"  she  demanded,  then  realized  that  she 
had  spoken  with  her  mother's  tone,  from  an 
expanded  chest,  and  tried  to  laugh  at  herself. 
"Well,  any  one  would  be  worried  in  a  fog  like 


THE  SEED  OP  THE  RIGHTEOUS  219 

this,"    she    explained    reasonably;    "but    it's 
always  all  right!" 

The  wharf  was  a  vast  black  barn  of  a  place, 
open  at  the  sides  and  smelling  of  salty,  greasy, 
unknown  things.  Already  little  groups  stood 
or  wandered  about  it,  or  gathered  at  the  end 
trying  to  find  the  boat  in  every  blur  of  light 
that  loomed  up  out  of  the  mist  and  went 
trumpeting  on.  Chloe  went  to  the  edge,  but 
the  dark  water,  slipping  heavily  about  the  rot- 
ting piles,  pushing  up  and  sucking  down,  gave 
her  a  touch  of  horror.  She  turned  to  the  other 
waiters,  finding  neighbors  among  them.  Mrs. 
Gage  had  founded  these  excursions  seven  years 
ago,  beginning  with  a  borrowed  tug  and  doing 
nearly  all  the  work  herself.  Now  they  were  an 
endowed  institution,  with  a  big,  comfortable 
boat,  nurses  and  medical  inspection;  and  once 
a  week  a  horde  of  tired  mothers  and  city  babies 
went  out  for  a  day  of  pure  air  and  rest.  Noth- 
ing she  had  ever  done  had  been  such  a  popular 
success,  and  yet,  because  to-night  the  boat  was 
late,  there  was  an  uneasy  grumbling  at  the 
institution.  Wrinkled  grandmothers  didn't 
think  much  of  "them  boats" — Chloe  could  not 


220  THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS 

get  away  from  the  words.  A  laboring  man 
made  rough  comments  on  folks  who  led  wives 
and  children  into  danger  instead  of  mind- 
ing their  own  business,  and  Chloe,  hearing 
a  growled  assent,  had  a  frightened  insight 
into  the  ways  of  mobs.  The  women,  for  the 
most  part,  enjoyed  their  anxiety,  working  it  up 
with  tales  of  all  the  remembered  disasters  at 
sea,  luxuriating  in  sighs  and  tears.  It  had  for 
them  the  high  flavor  of  their  own  favorite 
newspaper.  More  came  to  watch.  The  men 
grew  angrier,  the  women  more  tearful. 

The  one  that  done  this,  she's  safe  at  home,  I 
bet,"  a  pale  young  fellow  exclaimed,  working 
nervous  hands.  "3he  ain't  going  to  take  no 
risk  herself!" 

"Them  boats  are  always  rotten,"  said  an- 
other. 

"You  are  mistaken;"  the  young,  pure  voice 
made  them  start.  Chloe  was  too  full  of  trouble, 
too  intent  on  her  truth,  to  falter.  "My  mother 
founded  these  excursions,"  she  went  on,  so 
clearly  that  others  turned  to  listen ;  "and  she  is 
on  board  with  her  little  grandson.  It  is  a  good 
boat,  and  they  take  every  possible  precaution. 


THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS  221 

.She  said  that  to  me,  just  the  other  day,  when  I 
didn't  want  her  to  go.  'You  don't  think  we 
would  let  those  poor  mothers  run  any  risk?' — 
those  were  her  very  words."  The  girlish  voice 
begged  them  to  believe.  "She  has  worked  so 
hard  over  this,  and  given  so  many  days'  happi- 
ness— I  can't  bear  to  have  you  blame  her." 

Their  quick  assent  was  another  insight  into 
the  ways  of  mobs.  "Sure,  miss !"  and,  "That's 
right,"  and  "My  wife  says — "  followed  her 
with  reassuring  nods  as  she  drew  away.  Her 
burst  of  courage  had  left  her  miserably  upset. 
The  waiting  was  harder  now  that  so  many 
knew  who  she  was.  She  felt  their  eyes  follow- 
ing her  and  heard  their  voices  drop  when  she 
passed. 

As  night  came  on  the  fog  grew  lighter  and 
many  stalled  boats  began  to  feel  their  way 
home,  filling  the  river  with  their  warning  din. 
New  watchers,  arriving  every  moment,  kept 
the  excitement  voluble.  Then,  no  one  could  say 
how,  rumor  sprang  up;  speculation  fell  silent 
before  a  definite  report  of  accident.  The  form 
was  vague:  some  called  it  fire  and  some  colli- 
sion ;  but  the  news  traveled  with  authority,  ag 


222  THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS 

coining  from  an  unknown  but  authentic  source. 
Wireless,  telephone — some  modern  miracle  had 
brought  warning.  Soon  every  one  was  repeat- 
ing it :  "They  say  there's  been  an  accident — " 
Chloe  saw  it  coming  to  her,  relentless  as  a  tidal 
wave,  and  suddenly  she  turned  coward  and  fled 
before  it.  Hiding  in  the  shadow  of  a  pile  of 
boxes,  she  dropped  her  face  into  her  hands. 

"I  can't  bear  it  much  longer,"  she  gasped. 
"I'm  so  frightened — and  so  alone — and  of 
course  it  is  all  right,  it  always  is,  but  I  do 
wish—" 

"Oh,  here  you  are;"  the  voice,  kind,  quiet, 
matter-of-course,  came  like  a  saving  hand.  Her 
heart  cried,  "It  is  too  good  to  be  true !"  even  as 
her  lifted  eyes  told  her  that  it  was  true,  that 
Alex  was  there.  "I  have  brought  you  a 
sweater,"  he  said,  and,  as  she  did  not  speak  or 
move,  he  wrapped  it  about  her  shoulders,  then 
sat  down  beside  her  on  her  box. 

Chloe  found  a  husky  shred  of  voice :  "How 
did  you — ?"  His  arm,  straightening  the 
sweater,  stayed  about  her,  but  neither  of  them 
seemed  to  know  it. 

"Why,  I  went  over  to  the  house,"  he  said,  at 


THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS  223 

_  cousinly  ease.  "I  knew  it  had  been  a  bad  day 
for  you  all — I  had  to  run  in,  Toto.  Sabra 
hadn't  got  home  yet,  but  Lizzie  told  me  where 
you  were.  Have  you  been  here  long?" 

She  nodded.  "Oh,  hours  and  hours!"  His 
arm  could  no  more  stay  impersonal  than  she 
could  help  the  plunge  of  her  face  into  his 
shoulder.  All  his  pity  and  love  and  strength 
went  into  the  clasp  that  held  her  and  the 
broken  words  murmured  against  her  hair  and 
cheek.  She  heard  them,  one  after  another — 
the  beautiful  words  for  which  her  heart  had 
starved.  "Darling,"  first,  and  "Beloved,"  and 
then,  "My  little  girl,  my  own  little  girl !"  Her 
chilled  blood  was  racing.  She  lifted  her  face, 
turning  it  up  like  a  flower  to  the  sun,  but  before 
his  lips  had  found  hers,  a  shout  wrenched 
them  apart.  They  sprang  up,  to  see  a  great 
blur  of  light  coming  inch  by  inch  out  of  the 
mist.  Dark  lines  began  to  divide  the  blur  into 
groups  of  lights  and  the  throbbing  of  machin- 
ery grew  steadily  louder.  Shouts  of  command 
reached  them  as  the  boat  worked  in  to  the  pier. 

"How  high  it  is!  It  looks  so  different," 
Chloe  exclaimed,  but  every  one  was  shouting 


224  THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS 

and  rejoicing  and  they  pushed  forward  with 
the  rest.  Now  they  could  see  the  deck,  and  it 
was  packed  solid  with  standing  women,  each 
carrying  a  baby  or  holding  a  child's  hand  and 
all  straining  white  faces  toward  the  waiting 
crowd;  but  no  one  spoke  or  answered  the  jubi- 
lant welcome.  Their  stillness  fell  with  a  hush 
on  noisy  greetings.  Then  a  murmur  went 
through  the  crowd  on  the  pier : 

"That  ain't  the  General  Sheridan — that  ain't 
our  boat!  .  .  .  Yes,  it  is  ...  But  it 
ain't  .  .  .  It's  bigger  .  .  .  Well,  there's 
mama,  anyway!  Why  don't  they  say  some- 
thing?" 

Chloe's  eyes,  running  back  and  forth  to  every 
tall  bonnet,  grew  wide  with  fright.  "I  can't 
find  her,"  she  stammered. 

"They  are  so  packed,"  Alex  said.  His  eyes, 
too,  were  darting  right  and  left  in  frowning 
search. 

The  boat  stopped,  and  still  the  huddled 
women  looked  down  in  silence,  and  the  silent 
crowd  waited.  The  calls  of  the  sailors,  lower- 
ing the  gangplank,  sounded  harsh  and  loud. 
The  first  woman  to  cross  it  fell  sobbing  into  the 


THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS  225 

arms  held  out  to  her.  Then  the  others  came, 
all  turning  from  white  fear  to  weeping  as  they 
reached  their  own.  Chloe's  hands  were  twisted 
into  Alex's  arm. 

"I  can't  find  her,"  she  repeated.  "I  can't  find 
my  Billy!" 

"Let  me  go  and  look,  dear — "  He  broke 
from  her,  and  the  swelling  crowd  pushed  her 
back.  She  could  not  see  the  gangplank  now.  A 
confusion  of  words  and  cries  grew  about  her, 
but  she  could  not  make  out  what  was  said. 

Then,  at  last,  the  crowd  was  parting  before 
Alex,  and  she  saw  Katy  coming  toward  her, 
gnarled  old  Katy  who  had  once  brought  her  a 
Cinderella's  pack  of  gay  clothes.  Now  her  face 
was  gray  and  wet  with  tears,  and  she  carried 
a  little  boy,  heavily  asleep  on  her  shoulder. 

"Billy !"  Chloe  had  started  forward  with  a 
cry  of  joy,  but  their  faces  stopped  her. 
"Mother?"  she  breathed. 

"Come  home,  Chloe,  at  once,"  Alex  said,  his 
arm  about  her,  but  she  resisted  him,  staring 
into  Katy's  tragic  face. 

"My  mother — tell  me !"  she  cried. 

"She   was   the   only   one,    dear;"   the   old 


226  THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS 

woman's  tears  were  streaming,  but  her  voice 
was  strong.  "But  for  her,  there' d  many  of 
them  be  dead  under  the  water  this  minute.  The 
big  boat  run  us  down,  and  the  poor  things  was 
wild  with  fright.  But  your  mother,  she  was 
like  a  trumpeting  angel.  She  steadied  'em,  and 
gathered  'em,  and  was  everywhere  at  once — 
dear,  she  was  so  strong,  so  happy  like.  Never 
have  I  seen  mortal  woman  so  glorious.  And 
she  and  the  captain,  they  got  them  in  the  boats, 
and  not  a  foot  wet  or  a  child  trampled — they 
did  what  she  said.  And  then  she  run  back, 
dear — 'twas  only  an  empty  cloak,  but  she 
thought  a  child  had  been  left.  And  we  called 
and  cried,  but  she  couldn't  hear  us,  and  then  it 
was  too  late,  and  all  over.  And  I  brought  the 
boy  safe  to  you,  dear,  but  she's  gone — may  God 
rest  her  soul  in  peace !" 

Silence  had  fallen  on  all  sides.  Dimly,  not 
understanding  why,  Chloe  saw  women  with 
bowed  faces  and  men  with  heads  uncovered 
making  way  for  her  and  Katy  and  the  sleeping 
child.  Then  they  were  all  in  a  carriage,  bump- 
ing interminably  through  the  black  streets. 
She  felt  no  need  to  cry,  no  heartbreak.  She  did 


THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS  227 

jiot  seem  to  care  very  much,  and  wondered 
with  a  vague  shame  at  her  own  insensibility. 

"My  mother  is  dead,"  she  told  herself,  but 
there  was  no  response.  "You  think  bad  things 
can't  be  true,  and  yet  they  are,"  she  silently 
argued,  eyes  fixed  on  the  dark  street.  Billy 
still  slept  in  Katy's  arms  and  Alex  sat  opposite. 
It  was  good  of  them  not  to  talk  or  to  offer  com- 
fort. "It  was  so  cold  down  there — you  can't 
feel  anything  very  much  when  you  are  chilled 
to  the  bone,"  she  pleaded,  and  clenched  her 
teeth  to  check  a  sudden  chattering. 

Their  way  did  not  pass  the  block  that  had 
held  the  little  park,  but  the  driver  must  have 
made  a  wrong  turning,  for  suddenly  they  were 
rounding  a  strip  of  dead  grass,  dividing  the 
street  but  unfenced,  with  a  fading  sketch  of  a 
tree  at  one  end  and  at  the  other  a  square  of 
broken  earth.  A  cry  burst  from  Chloe.  Alex 
would  have  taken  her  hands,  but  she  caught 
them  away,  beating  them  together.  Her  eyes 
burned  as  though  with  anger.  All  her  body 
was  drawn  tense  and  straight. 

"Oh,  it  is  not  fair,"  she  cried.  "Everything 
at  once — it  is  not  fair!  vl  won't  forgive  it!" 


228  THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS 

The  carriage  stopped  and  Alex  sprang  down, 
but  she  brushed  past  him  unaided.  When  he 
would  have  come  in  with  them,  she  turned  on 
him. 

"Not  you!  You  didn't  love  her — you  Were 
cruel !  You  can't  ever  come  in !" 

"Don't  mind  her  now,  dear,"  the  old  woman 
whispered,  but  Chloe  hurried  her  in  and  shut 
the  door. 


CHAPTER  VIII 

THE  city  rang  with  the  story  of  the  General 
Sheridan  disaster  and  the  heroic  death  of 
Mrs.  Sereno  Gage.  The  varying  accounts  of 
what  had  happened  after  the  great  dark  wedge 
that  was  the  bow  of  a  coast  liner  came  cutting 
down  through  the  mist,  held  up  the  same  re- 
splendent figure,  towering  over  the  confusion, 
hushing  screams  and  checking  rushes  by  the 
sweep  of  her  shining  courage.  She  had  shown 
an  inspired  wisdom.  "You're  cool  and  calm — 
;we  can  count  on  you!"- — the  words,  trumpet 
clear,  had  steadied  many  a  trembling  heart. 
She  seemed  to  be  taller  than  every  one,  and 
filled  with  a  triumphant  gladness,  as  though  at 
last  she  had  work  big  enough  for  the  full  meas- 
ure of  her  strength.  Only  one  thought  of  self 
had  she  shown,  when  she  gave  Billy  into  old 
Katy's  care. 

"Whatever  happens — "    That  was  all  she  had 
229 


230  THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS 

said,  but  Katy  had  not  once  relaxed  her  hold 
on  the  little  boy. 

"I'd  have  saved  him  though  I  died  three 
times  myself  and  lost  both  them  that  belonged 
to  me,"  she  told  the  questioners. 

All  but  the  last  boat  were  safely  launched 
when  the  brown  huddle  that  was  only  a  for- 
gotten cloak  caught  her  final  look,  and  she  had 
run  up  the  slanting  deck  into  the  cabin  before 
the  anguished  voices  could  stop  her.  Then  the 
ocean  had  risen  up. 

"We  nearly  went  down  ourselves,  but  we 
pulled  away,"  they  said,  "and  the  captain's 
jump  saved  him ;  but  she  never  came  back.  We 
searched,  and  we  prayed,  but  she  didn't  come 
back.  And  there  wasn't  one  of  us  that  wouldn't 
have  died  for  her." 

So  the  poor  made  a  saint  of  her,  and  the  rich 
forgot  that  they  had  criticized  or  laughed,  and 
the  papers,  honoring  her,  paid  honor  to  Sereno 
Gage,  making  much  of  the  fate  that  had 
brought  down  his  statue  and  his  old  wife  on 
the  same  day.  Chloe,  tearless,  with  fever 
bright  eyes,  went  ceaselessly  about  the  house 
all  the  next  day,  working  at  anything,  seeing 


THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS  231 

everybody  who  came.  Sabra  was  curiously 
cowed.  She  sat  bent  down  in  her  own  room, 
and  no  one  might  know  what  went  on  behind 
her  expressionless  silence.  She  seemed  impo- 
tent, as  though  her  power  to  see  things  as  she 
wished  were  dimmed,  and  she  had  no  other  re- 
source. Late  in  the  afternoon  Ralston  came 
back  alone,  shaken  with  a  grief  that  made 
Chloe  very  tender  of  him.  She  felt  none  her- 
self— only  a  confused  exaltation,  a  sense  of 
rushing  strength;  but  tears  were  the  right 
tribute  from  Ralston.  A  motor  waited  for  him, 
and  he  did  not  stay  long. 

"Helena  wants  to  take  Billy,"  he  said  at  the 
door.  "For  a  few  days,  anyway.  Don't  you 
think  it  would  be  better?" 

Chloe  assented  with  the  same  curious  ab- 
sence of  feeling.  No  one  had  paid  much  atten- 
tion to  the  little  boy  to-day,  and  he  had  played 
quietly  by  himself  in  a  corner,  making  few 
demands.  He  had  seemed  absorbed  in  his 
games,  and  there  was  no  sign  to  show  how 
much  he  had  understood,  or  how  deep  a  mark 
yesterday's  experience  had  left.  He  went 
readily  with  his  father  to  see  his  dear  lady, 


232  THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS 

whose  new  relationship  had  not  yet  been  ex- 
plained to  him.  Chloe,  putting  him  into  the 
car,  looked  meaningly  over  his  head  into  her 
brother's  eyes. 

"Ralston,  I  have  told  Billy  how  grandfather 
has  had  to  move  away,  because  the  street  was 
so  crowded,"  she  said.  "And  granny  has  now 
gone  to  stay  with  him." 

Ralston's  face  quivered,  but  he  nodded  his 
understanding.  Billy,  clambering  in,  paid  no 
heed.  At  her  cheerful,  "Kiss  Toto,  old  man," 
he  obediently  turned  back;  but  his  little  per- 
sonality was  veiled.  He  seemed  interested 
only  in  the  ride  and  the  arrangement  of  his  toy 
pony  so  that  the  latter  might  enjoy  the 
scenery. 

"Billy  has  gone,"  Chloe  said  to  herself  as  she 
turned  away,  but  the  words  meant  nothing. 
She  had  so  many  things  to  do !  As  night  came, 
they  seemed  more  numerous,  more  important. 
Throat  and  head  ached,  but  some  dim  idea  that 
everything  had  to  be  done  to-day  drove  her  on. 
Uncle  Harry  had  come  in  the  morning,  but  at 
evening  Chloe  sent  for  him  again.  She  met 
him  with  a  small  box  in  her  hands. 


THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS  233 

"Uncle  Harry,"  she  began  at  once,  "this  is 
the  money  that  people  gave  for  the  fund  we 
were  raising — you  remember?  It's  money,  not 
checks.  And  it  was  not  mother's,  you  see ;  the 
law  has  nothing  to  do  with  it.  I  have  found  a 
list  of  the  people  who  gave,  but  it  doesn't  say 
how  much."  She  put  the  box  into  his  hands, 
holding  it  there  with  a  hot  grasp.  "I  want  you 
to  find  out.  Make  Miss  Galbraith — she  is  so 
kind — make  her  write  to  each  one,  and  then 
send  them  the  amount.  Will  you  do  that  for 
me?  Right  away?  Oh,  don't  make  objec- 
tions !"  she  burst  out. 

"I  suppose  it's  all  right,  Chloe;"  he  turned 
the  box  hesitatingly.  "Does  Sabra  know?"  he 
added. 

"Yes.  I  told  her  I  was  going  to,  and  she 
didn't  say  anything.  She  couldn't  stop  me,  any- 
way. Nothing  could.  I  am  so  horribly  strong." 
A  note  of  laughter  broke  from  her.  "I  can't 
get  tired!"  she  cried.  "I  have  worked  all  day 
long,  and  I'm  as  fresh !  I  took  cold,  of  course, 
but  that's  nothing.  And  I  am  not  at  all 
excited;  I  never  felt  cooler.  I  could  do  any- 
thing!" 


234  THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS 

His  averted  glance,  for  once,  was  lifted  full 
to  her  face.  "You  ought  to  go  to  bed,  Chloe. 
,You're  ill,"  he  said. 

"No,  I'm  not,"  she  insisted.  "I  feel  perfectly 
splendid.  I  shall  be  back  at  the  office  in  two 
days.  I  want  to  work.  Mother  would  want  me 
to.  She  said  that,  just  the  night  before. 
'Don't  cry  about  things,'  she  said.  'Crying 
means  sitting  down,  and  you  don't  want  to  sit 
down  even  to  rejoice/  Don't  you  think  that  is 
fine  and  true?  'There  isn't  time  to  cry,'  she 
said.  And  I  haven't,  not  once.  I  was  awake 
all  night,  thinking  things  out — it  didn't  seem 
ten  minutes ;  but  I  didn't  cry.  I'm  not  going  to 
wear  mourning — that  was  one  of  the  things  I 
decided.  If  I  could  wear  royal  purple  or  scarlet 
for  her,  I  would ;  but  not  black.  Sabra  is  go- 
ing to — wouldn't  you  know  it?"  She  laughed 
again,  but  checked  herself  with  a  look  of  shock. 
"How  heartless  I  sound!  Do  you  suppose  I 
really  am?" 

His  fingers  had  closed  on  her  wrist.  "Now, 
Chloe,"  he  began,  but  she  interrupted. 

"I'm  not,  I  tell  you.  I'm  perfectly  well.  Why, 


THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS  235 

I  could  go  down  to  the  office  this  minute — "  the 
high  voice  faltered  and  her  hands  went  out 
gropingly  for  a  chair.  When  he  had  helped 
her  to  the  sofa,  she  dropped  her  head  against 
him,  holding  him  fast.  "I  think  perhaps  I  am 
ill,"  she  whispered.  "Yes,  get  some  one,  but 
first  wait — I  want  to  send  a  message." 

"Yes,  Chloe?"  The  answer  brought  back  her 
attention,  already  beginning  to  wander. 

"It's  about  Alex.  Oh,  yes,  I  know.  I  thought 
that  all  out  in  the  night,  too.  Tell  him  I  am 
sorry  I  said  what  I  did.  I  don't  care  for  him 
any  more — that  is  all  dead;  but  I  don't  feel 
cruel  and  vindictive.  I  understand  now:  he 
was  only  blurting  out  what  he  thought  was  the 
whole  truth ;  he  couldn't  see  that  it  was  only  a 
little  piece  of  the  truth.  I  know  he  sees  better 
now,  and  I'm  sorry  for  him.  Will  you  tell  him 
that,  just  exactly  as  I  said  it?  I  don't  want  to 
see  him  yet — I  am  so  busy,  and  I  think  I'm  ill ; 
but  he  was  kind,  and  I  didn't  mean  what  I  said. 
By  and  by  he  must  come  to  see  me.  And  you'll 
send  back  the  money?"  The  room  began  to 
spin  round  again.  When  Chloe  opened  her 


236  THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS 

eyes,  Sabra  was  there.  "But  I  can't  be  ill  now 
— it's  the  renting  season !"  she  cried,  and  burst 
into  tears. 

Chloe  was  very  ill  for  many  days,  and  then 
for  many  more  she  lay  weak  and  sorrowful, 
longing  for  her  mother.  When  the  nurse  could 
be  sent  away,  Sabra,  who  had  procured  money, 
no  one  could  say  how,  dismissed  Lizzie  and 
found  a  pleasant  woman  who  would  wait  on 
Chloe  as  well  as  take  care  of  the  little  house. 
Sabra  herself  had  gone  back  to  the  office  and 
was  filling  Chloe's  place. 

Ralston's  wife  came  nearly  every  day,  bring- 
ing Billy  as  soon  as  Chloe  was  well  enough  to 
see  him,  Uncle  Harry  trudged  over  every  even- 
ing, and  friends,  rich  and  poor,  left  messages 
and  offerings.  It  was  an  open-hearted  time, 
and  though  she  had  desolate  hours  and  nights 
of  shivering  horror,  Chloe  rose  up  from  it  with 
a  renewed  sense  of  the  world's  loving-kindness 
and  the  richness  of  life.  Autumnal  freshness 
was  in  the  air,  bringing  back  strength. 
Flowers  had  come  from  Alex,  the  first  with, 
"Thank  you,  Chloe,"  written  on  a  card,  the  rest 
with  simply  his  name.  She  had  not  answered, 


but  she  stared  at  them  for  hours  when  she  was 
alone,  and  the  first  night  she  went  down-stairs 
she  carried  with  her  a  jar  of  dark  red  chrysan- 
themums, great  spicy,  ragged  heads  that  filled 
the  room  with  festivity.  Sabra  had  to  hurry 
off  to  a  meeting. 

"But  you  will  have  Uncle  Harry,"  she  said  in 
apology,  and  Chloe  smiled  assent.  Sabra  and 
she  would  always  do  kind  things  for  each 
other,  but  they  would  not  often  voluntarily  sit 
down  and  visit  together.  Then  the  bell  rang, 
and  though  her  mind  pointed  out  that  it  was 
just  time  for  Uncle  Harry,  her  heart  knew  who 
was  coming.  She  had  known  it  all  day. 

"Well,  Alex!"  She  smiled  from  her  big 
chair,  then,  seeing  new  lines  in  his  face,  a  new, 
grave  look  of  experience,  she  had  to  drop  her 
eyelids  to  hold  back  tears.  He  was  near  tears 
himself  as  he  held  her  hand  in  both  his. 

"We  won't  talk  about  things,"  she  said,  and 
so  they  sat  together  in  silence  for  a  while,  pay- 
ing that  tribute  to  all  that  had  happened.  To 
Chloe  it  was  at  first  high  and  solemn,  like  a 
burial  service ;  she  seemed  to  be  standing  in  the 
dimness  of  a  cathedral  while  the  organ's 


238  THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS 

requiem  rolled  under  the  high  arches.  Then 
the  music  changed,  sunlight  streamed  over  her 
in  broken  colors,  crimson  and  blue  and  gold, 
and  the  marriage  service  was  giving  her  heart 
to  Alex  forever  and  ever.  Not  care  for  him! 
Why  he  was  all  her  life :  for  richer,  for  poorer ; 
in  sickness  and  in  health;  till  death — 

Her  eyes  sprang  open,  she  turned  to  him  for 
the  marriage  kiss.  Alex,  lifting  his  bent  head 
from  his  hand,  met  her  with  a  guarded  and 
cousinly  smile. 

"You  have  had  a  bad  time,  poor  little  Toto," 
he  said  cheerfully.  "Do  you  feel  equal  to  talk- 
ing? Wouldn't  you  rather  I  read  something  to 
you?" 

Chloe,  inwardly  reeling  from  the  blow,  an- 
swered faintly  that  she  felt  equal  to  anything, 
but  looked  so  wan  and  discouraged  that  Alex 
was  tenderly  wrathful.  "Who  takes  care  of 
you?"  he  demanded. 

The  thought  that  she  could  at  least  worry 
him  was  heartening.  "Oh,  Annie  answers  my 
bell — when  she  hears  it,"  she  said  listlessly. 

"And  you  lie  up  there  all  alone  but  for  that?" 
He  had  to  get  up  and  stride  about.  "What  are 


THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS  239 

people  thinking  of!  I  shall  send  you  a  nurse 
first  thing  in  the  morning." 

She  had  succeeded  rather  too  well,  and  had 
to  undo  it.  "Indeed,  you  won't !  I  am  up  now : 
I  don't  want  a  nurse.  She  would  bother  me." 

He  stood  looking  down  on  her  so  intently 
that  at  last  she  had  to  lift  her  eyes  to  his,  but 
she  could  not  put  any  friendliness  into  them; 
she  was  too  bleakly  disappointed. 

"If  I  had  the  taking  care  of  you,"  he  began 
with  dogmatic  energy,  but  she  broke  in : 

"Oh,  I  can't  be  scolded  to-night,  Alex  I" 
Tears  that  she  made  no  attempt  to  hide  ran 
down  her  cheeks.  She  hoped  that  they  hurt 
him. 

"Toto,  I  am  a  brute  beast!"  Again  she  had 
succeeded  rather  too  well.  "Just  lie  still,  dear, 
and  let  me  read  you  something.  I  won't  talk. 
I  won't  bother  you  in  any  way."  He  tucked 
his  big  handkerchief  into  her  hand,  secretly, 
and  turned  his  back  under  the  pretense  of 
shielding  the  light  from  her  eyes.  Next  he 
brought  a  footstool,  and  something  in  the  way 
he  knelt  to  place  it,  something  reverent  and 
humble  and  pledged  to  self-denial,  restored  a 


240  THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS 

little  warmth  to  her  chilled  soul.  Then  he 
arranged  the  shawl  about  her  shoulders,  and 
the  lingering  tenderness  of  his  hands  utterly 
betrayed  him.  Chloe's  relief  was  hot  with 
indignation. 

"Alex,  you  stupid — you  perfect  fool!"  she 
silently  stormed  at  him.  "Haven't  we  been 
hurt  long  enough  ?" 

"This  looks  amusing;"  Alex  was  folding 
back  a  magazine  he  had  brought ;  "and  it  won't 
tire  you.  Are  you  comfortable?" 

Chloe  refused  to  answer.  He  began  to  read, 
but  as  she  did  not  hear  a  word,  she  naturally 
failed  to  respond  to  the  points,  and  at  the  end 
he  softly  closed  the  magazine  and  rose. 

"Now  I  think  I  ought  to  go,"  he  said,  reluct- 
ant but  manful.  "May  I  come  again  soon?" 

"Oh,  do,"  said  Chloe  politely. 

He  felt  the  rebuff,  but  was  too  pitiful  of  her 
condition  to  challenge  it.  He  was  very  eager 
to  do  right,  and  so  vowed  to  caution  that  he 
could  not  see  how  all  need  for  caution  was  over. 
He  was  settling  down  to  a  siege  while  the  gates 
were  wide  open. 


THE  SEED  OF,  THE  EIGHTEOUS  241 

"I  shall  come,  but  you  can  just  tell  the  maid 
when  you  don't  want  to  be  bothered,"  he  said, 
taking  her  hand  as  though  it  might  break. 

"Oh,  stupid!"  she  silently  cried  at  him;  but 
she  looked  more  animated.  "I  like  to  be 
visited,"  she  said.  "Do  you  know,  I  miss  the 
office!  Every  time  Sabra  tells  me  she  has 
rented  anything,  I  feel  jealous.  I  can't  wait  to 
get  back." 

"You'll  jolly  well  have  to  wait,"  he  said  with 
more  of  the  familiar  emphasis.  "You  are  no- 
where near  fit  for  it  yet." 

Inwardly  she  was  saying,  "Oh,  why  don't 
you  understand!"  while  outwardly  she  made 
sturdy  answer:  "But  Sabra's  lecture  course 
begins  in  a  few  weeks  and  she  ought  to  be  free 
to  work  on  it.  Besides,  I  am  really  valuable  to 
Uncle  Harry,  I'd  have  you  know.  He  said  so. 
I  am  going  to  work  so  hard  and  so  intelligently 
that  some  day  he  will  make  me  his  partner." 

It  was  Alex's  chance  to  cry  out  against  any 
partnership  but  a  life  one  with  him,  but  he 
only  looked  disheartened.  "Still,  you  must  take 
your  time,"  he  said  with  an  effort 


242  THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS 

"Well,  if  he  isn't  masterful,  then  he  can't 
have  me — I  don't  want  him."  Chloe  explained 
to  her  disappointed  self. 

"I  am  going  down  to  the  Sound  over  Sun- 
day with  Helena,"  she  said  aloud.  "That  and 
my  Billy  will  make  me  good  as  new."  He 
stiffened  at  the  mention  of  that  marriage,  and 
she  nodded  her  understanding.  "I  know.  I 
felt  that  way,  too.  It  scorched  me,  Alex !  And 
yet — they  are  very  happy!  Both  of  them.  If 
they  stay  so,  won't  it  perhaps  turn  out  to  have 
been— right?" 

He  started  to  answer  with  the  old  cocksure- 
ness,  but  the  words  faltered.  "I  don't  know," 
he  said  instead.  "I'm  hot  against  it,  but  then 
I  am  always  finding  out  that  I've  been  a  pig- 
headed ass."  He  knelt  beside  her  chair,  laying 
his  face  against  her  arm.  "I've  been  so 
ashamed,"  he  whispered. 

"I  know — I've  understood."  Her  hand 
passed  softly  once  over  the  thick  hair,  strong 
and  colorful  like  the  man  himself.  Then  she 
drew  it  away.  "I  won't  help  you,"  she  silently 
defied  him.  "If  you  are  not  man  enough  to 


THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS  243 

take  me,  you  can  go  without!"  At  the  with- 
drawal he  rose  at  once. 

"Well,  good  night,  little  cousin,"  he  said.  "Go 
to  bed  early  and  don't  forget  your  tonic."  And 
he  was  gone. 

"Stupid!"  Chloe  hurled  after  him,  but  she 
was  smiling. 

Alex  was  prepared  for  a  long  siege.  He  had 
Chloe's  word  for  it  that  she  no  longer  cared 
for  him,  but  he  meant  to  win  her  love  all  over 
again  from  the  very  beginning,  and  he  set 
about  his  task  with  a  patience  and  devotion 
that  sometimes  exasperated  her,  but  more 
often,  when  she  was  alone,  brought  a  warm 
laugh  deep  in  her  throat.  Of  course,  he  was 
very  soon  laying  down  the  law  again,  and  she 
was  standing  up  to  him  with  the  old  spirit,  and 
becoming  daily  more  sure  that  never  before 
had  so  sound  and  sweet  and  strong  a  heart  and 
mind  been  offered  to  living  woman.  Health 
came  back  very  fast.  She  was  out  every  day 
now,  and  spent  hours  with  Billy,  who  had 
accepted  the  big  house  and  the  many  luxuries 
with  childish  unconcern. 


244  THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS 

The  last  day  of  her  freedom  was  stormy,  and 
Chloe  slipped  over  to  Billy's  nursery  early  in 
the  afternoon.  There  were  changes  in  the 
little  boy's  outer  appearance.  His  hair,  instead 
of  being  prosaically  "shingled,"  had  already 
assumed  a  "Dutch  cut" ;  when  he  went  out  his 
fine  little  coat  was  trimmed  with  astrachan 
and  his  leggings  were  of  aristocratic  leather, 
while  indoors  he  played  in  blue  linen  blouses 
that  would  once  have  been  saved  for  Sunday 
best.  But  there  was  no  change  in  the  inner 
Billy.  He  was  showing  the  delights  of  a  toy 
train  and  tunnel  to  his  new  mother,  who, 
though  in  hat  and  coat,  lingered  to  look  on, 
giving  him  her  devout,  overearnest  attention. 
She  was  always  more  astonished,  more  en- 
raptured than  the  occasion  demanded,  and  Billy 
was  already  a  little  patronizing  with  her, 
though  very  kind  and  loving.  At  sight  of  his 
Toto  he  scrambled  up  with  a  shout.  Helena's 
lovely  smile  was  no  less  truly  welcoming. 

"I  have  to  go  to  a  committee  meeting,  and  I 
would  so  much  rather  stay  home,"  she  said, 
and  happiness  shone  out  so  palpably  that  Chloe 


THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS  245 

secretly  cried  out  to  Alex,  "It  must  be  right!" 
as  she  kissed  her. 

"Don't  go,"  she  urged.  Helena  wavered,  but 
duty  triumphed. 

"Committee  meetings  are  so  difficult  if  the 
members  stay  away,  don't  you  think?"  she 
asked.  "But  I  shall  be  back  for  tea.  You  will 
stay?  Ralston  will  be  home,"  she  added  as  a 
supreme  inducement,  and  Chloe,  smiling  to  her- 
self, promised. 

She  smiled,  and  yet  she  had  to  realize  that 
Ralston,  coming  down  from  his  beautiful  work- 
room at  five  o'clock,  had  an  importance  that 
had  not  belonged  to  the  old  shabby,  harassed, 
irritable  Rawly.  Prosperity  had  given  him  a 
new  and  quite  unaffected  suavity.  He  even 
stood  with  more  assurance,  cup  in  hand,  his 
back  to  the  fire.  His  manner  to  Helena  was 
perfect,  and  she  could  not  ask  for  an  opinion 
that  he  was  not  interested  to  give.  He  loved  to 
give  his  opinions  in  this  devout,  unruffling  at- 
mosphere. He  would  love  it  better  every  year, 
and  give  them  more  minutely. 

"Ralston  began  yesterday  on  his  new  play," 


246  THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS 

Helena  reverently  explained.  "He  has  a  won- 
derful idea.  We  think  this  is  going  to  be  far 
ahead  of  anything  he  has  done." 

Chloe's  glance  turned  quickly  to  her  brother. 
Had  he  forgotten  a  bitter  night  when  he  had 
seen  truly  and  cried  out  against  his  own  pre- 
tensions? She  looked  for  an  answering  gleam, 
an  acknowledgment  of  the  secret  between 
them;  but  Ralston  was  placidly  emptying  his 
second  cup. 

"Yes;  this  ought  to  be  great  advance  over 
my  other  work,"  he  decided.  "It  has  a  broader 
foundation;  it  is  more  cosmic.  Not  so  remote 
from  the  man  in  the  street.  Subtle,  of 
course — "  He  went  on  developing  his  estimate, 
seriously  concerned  with  choosing  the  right 
words,  and  Helena  drooped  toward  him  with 
her  lovely  grace,  intent  as  though  pearls  were 
dropping.  The  butler  came  to  remove  the  tea 
things,  but,  by  the  faintest  movement  of  her 
hand,  he  was  sent  away  again.  Chloe  had  a 
wicked  impulse  to  amusement,  but  presently 
something  under  the  little  scene  sobered  her, 
and  brought  a  wistful  pain  that  was  like  home- 
sickness. Rawly's  words  might  be  pompous, 


THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS  247 

but  he  was  man  to  the  listening  woman,  and 
Billy,  prolonging  his  biscuit  at  their  feet,  com- 
pleted the  eternal  human  triangle.  This  softly 
glowing  room  was  a  home,  and  when  she  had 
gone  through  the  bleak  streets  to  her  emptiy 
house,  the  home  she  left  would  be  as  richly 
complete  without  her.  Man,  woman  and  child 
• — given  these  three,  all  one's  world  would  lie 
within  one's  front  door. 

"I  must  go,"  she  exclaimed,  starting  up. 

The  storm  had  ceased,  and  Ralston  put  on 
his  coat  to  walk  home  with  her,  wanting  a 
breath  of  air  after  the  day's  work.  Chloe,  lift- 
ing her  head  from  Billy's  fervent  good  night, 
saw  him  go  back  to  take  Helena's  hand  and  kiss 
it  with  a  murmured  word,  and  it  came  over  her 
sharply  that  she  could  not  bear  it. 

"Alex,  Alex!"  she  silently  cried  as  they 
stepped  out  into  the  wild  darkness.  She  knew 
that  if  he  did  not  come  to-night,  she  must  sum- 
mon him. 

There  were  rivers  underfoot  and  a  cold  wind 
drove  in  their  face,  but  Chloe  was  glad  of  diffi- 
culties that  made  speech  impossible.  Ralston 
left  her  at  her  door,  and  the  little  house  that 


248  THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS 

had  always  been  home  to  her  seemed  a  desolate 
place,  shabby  and  chilly  and  ugly  with  gas-light, 
as  she  went  in  alone. 

"Oh,  but  it  wouldn't  matter — with  the  right 
person !"  The  words  burst  from  her,  and  then 
she  tried  in  vain  to  catch  them  back,  for,  start- 
ing from  her  own  chair,  one  of  her  books 
dropping  from  his  hand,  she  saw  the  right  per- 
son. "Alex!"  she  stammered. 

He  drew  her  in,  keeping  both  her  hands. 
"What  wouldn't  matter,  Chloe?"  He  was  ex- 
cited, bound  to  follow  up  what  he  had  heard, 
but  Chloe,  suddenly  gay,  slipped  away  from 
him. 

"I  just  parted  from  Ralston,"  she  said 
evasively. 

"Oh — I  didn't  know  any  one  was  there;"  he 
spoke  so  disappointedly  that  she  ought  to  have 
been  ashamed,  but  she  only  laughed. 

"When  did  you  move  in  ?"  she  asked.  "Sabra 
and  I  have  considered  taking  a  lodger.  Have 
you  references?" 

"About  twenty  minutes  ago.  I  though  per- 
haps you  would  invite  me  to  dinner." 

"If  there  is  enough  to  go  round — I'll  ask 


THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS  249 

Annie;"  she  went  out,  and  presently  came  back 
very  demure. 

"Sabra  has  telephoned  that  she  won't  be 
home,  so  you  may  have  her  two  chops,"  she 
explained. 

"Praise  God!" 

"Oh,  I  wouldn't  be  too  glad;  they  may  be 
rather  tough.  They  often  are." 

"Hang  the  chops,"  said  Alex,  but  she  had  run 
off  to  dress. 

When  she  came  down  she  was  too  busy  set- 
ting the  table  to  pay  any  further  attention  to 
him.  The  finest  linen,  the  best  of  the  old  silver 
and  china  were  brought  out,  but  she  could 
trust  to  his  not  knowing  the  difference.  She 
even  found  some  crumbling,  dusty  wax  candles 
for  the  battered  old  candelabra,  and  sat  down 
to  rub  them  clean. 

"These  ought  to  be  used  up,"  she  said,  lest 
he  suspect  a  tribute  here.  "They  have  been  in 
that  drawer  ever  since  I  have  been  tall  enough 
to  look  into  it.  They  must  have  been  left  from 
the  one  party  we  ever  gave  in  all  our  lives—- 
when  Sabra  came  home  from  college." 

"I    remember    that    tea,"    Alex    laughed. 


250  THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS 

"There  were  nineteen  carriages  outside;  I 
counted  them.  The  neighborhood  was  all 
wrought  up.  I  had  a  very  hard  yellow  ice- 
cream pear  in  the  kitchen — the  spoon  wouldn't 
go  into  it,  I  remember." 

"And  the  splendid  old  swells  came — people 
who  had  always  known  mother's  people;  and 
funny  people  who  had  adored  father."  Chloe 
could  laugh,  too.  "Alex,  it  is  so  much  nicer 
than  if  we  had  just  met  a  year  or  two  ago 
and  hadn't  all  that  old  background!"  She  did 
not  realize  all  that  the  impulsive  speech  ad- 
mitted, and  though  Alex  was  deeply  smiling,  he 
took  no  advantage. 

"You  were  the  dearest  little  doll  of  a  child," 
he  said.  "You  have  been  in  my  arms  many  a 
time,  Chloe." 

"Why,  of  course,"  was  the  cool  answer. 
"You  taught  me  to  tell  the  time.  You  used  to 
lift  me  up  to  the  clock  every  time  you  came  in." 

He  was  leaning  against  the  table,  watching 
her  deft  hands.  "I  remember  the  first  time  I 
ever  saw  you." 

"What  did  I  have  on?"  she  asked  interest- 
edly. 


THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS  251 

"About  seventeen  blankets,  I  should  say.  You 
were  some  six  days  old.  Funny  little  red  Toto ! 
I  didn't  think  much  of  you." 

They  laughed  together  at  the  dim  old  picture 
-. — the  sturdy  little  boy  and  the  new  baby,  so 
unaware  of  the  future  to  which  they  were  grow- 
ing. "Ah,  I'm  glad  you  came  in!"  she  cried. 
He  bent  over  her,  one  hand  on  her  chair-back, 
one  on  the  table  in  front  of  her,  and  their  mo- 
ment was  very  near. 

"You're  so  brave,  dearest.  One  can  only 
guess  how  lonely  you  must  be." 

She  answered  with  dropped  head.  "I  am 
simply  trying  to  do  what  she  said — to  follow 
her."  Then  she  looked  up  into  his  face.  "Alex, 
you  do  feel  her  quality — now?" 

His  eyes  blurred.  "I  feel  her  splendor, 
Chloe." 

"Then  it's  all  right!"  She  let  her  forehead 
touch  his  sleeve,  and  felt  his  answering  start ; 
but  Annie's  entrance  drove  him  back.  "Bring 
up  a  chair,  Alex,"  Chloe  ordered  with  the  mar- 
velous feminine  power  of  acting  as  though 
nothing  had  happened. 

She  lighted  the  candles,  then  took  her  place 


252  THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS 

opposite  him,  and  Annie  in  a  clean  white  apron 
stayed  to  wait.  Alex  was  of  no  earthly  assist- 
ance. He  took  what  was  offered  him  with 
fumbling  hands,  but  his  eyes,  very  still  and 
dark,  never  seemed  to  leave  Chloe's.  His  only 
contribution  to  appearances  was  that  star-gaz- 
ing silence.  Chloe,  girlishly  frightened,  clung 
to  her  light  speech  even  after  Annie  had  left 
the  room. 

"She  is  such  a  nice  woman,  so  different  from 
that  dreadful—" 

But  Alex  had  risen  and  was  coming  round 
to  her.  Again  his  arms  hovered  about  her,  all 
ready  to  take  her  in. 

"Chloe,  Chloe—!"  he  begged.  "Is  it  truly- 
all  right?" 

Fear  was  lost  in  gladness,  and  she  pressed 
up  to  him.  "It's  all  right  forever  and  ever !" 

Annie,  coming  back  to  change  the  plates, 
found  them  sitting  decorously  opposite,  to  be 
sure,  but  not  a  bite  of  dinner  eaten,  and  went 
out  again  looking  wise. 

"You  might  just  ring  when  you  want  me, 
Miss  Chloe,"  she  said,  and  they  laughed,  and 
ate  the  chilled  food  with  guilty  haste. 


THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS  253 

"When  I  am  rich,"  Alex  said  as  he  rose  from 
the  table,  "I  am  going  to  endow  whatever  so- 
ciety it  was  that  kept  Sabra  away  to-night." 

Chloe  knelt  to  light  the  fire  in  the  sitting- 
room.  "Turn  out  that  stupid  gas ;  we  will  just 
have  the  lamp,"  she  said. 

Alex  turned  out  the  gas,  but  the  lamp  was 
not  lighted,  and  while  the  paper  smoldered 
and  curled  the  room  was  deeply,  tremulously 
dark;  and  Chloe,  who  had  all  her  life  wanted 
to  be  big  and  strong,  knew  now  why  it 
was  beautiful  to  be  little  and  soft  and  slender. 
Then  a  long  finger  of  flame  shot  out,  pointing, 
and  a  dozen  little  flames  leaped  up  with  a  joy- 
ous crackle,  sending  the  light  dancing  about 
them.  Chloe  flushed,  and  slipping  out  of  his 
arms,  brought  her  stool  to  the  hearth.  Alex 
threw  himself  down  beside  her.  Already  a 
grave  frown  was  clouding  his  eyes. 

"You  may  not  want  to  bind  yourself  to  such 
a  pauper,"  he  said.  "I  haven't  a  cent — in  fact, 
I  owe  a  little.  It  will  be  a  long  time  before  I 
am  far  enough  ahead  to  make  a  home  for  you." 

"But,  my  dear  boy,  you  have  five  thousand 
dollars,"  she  cried. 


254  THE  SEED  OF  THE  KIGHTEOUS 

"No,  I  haven't,  Toto." 

"But  you  sold  your  patent — " 

He  was  looking  steadily  away  from  her. 
"Yes;  but  I  had  to  do  something  with  that 
money." 

She  was  too  distressed  to  stop.  "But  you 
hadn't  debts — Alex,  you  haven't  been  wild  and 
silly!" 

He  smiled  at  that,  laying  her  hand  against 
his  lips.  "Often,  dear — but  I  didn't  happen  to 
get  into  debt.  No;  this  was  something  I 
wanted  to  do  more  than  anything  in  life,  so  I 
took  the  money  for  it." 

"More  than  marry  me?"  she  asked,  after  a 
hurt  silence. 

"It's  part  of  marrying  you."  Then  he 
straightened  up  to  look  into  her  face.  "I  don't 
want  to  tell  you  yet,  Chloe.  Will  you  trust 
me?"  This  was  being  masterful,  even  as  her 
heart  had  demanded.  She  might  rule  him  in 
little  ways,  but  he  was  master  of  his  own  life, 
and  she  made  glad  acknowledgment  of  it. 

"Of  course  I  trust  you." 

"And  you  will  wait  for  me — a  year  at  least?" 

"Twenty  years!" 


"More  than  marrying  me?"  she  asked 


THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS  255 

"And  it's  all  right?" 

"It's  all  right,"  she  repeated,  adding  shyly, 
half  under  her  breath,  "my  dear  love!"  The 
little  phrase  meant  submission,  but  it  made 
him  very  humble. 

"Ah,  Toto,  I'm  not  good  enough,"  he  said, 
like  every  true  lover  since  Adam. 

So  Chloe  went  back  to  work,  and  the  year 
started  on  its  quick  round.  She  paid  her  own 
way  now:  there  were  no  borrowings,  no  hu- 
miliations, no  wincing  acceptances.  When  this 
made  her  too  happy,  she  lifted  eyes  of  tender 
apology  to  her  father  and  mother,  who  were 
never  very  far  from  her. 

"It's  right  for  me,  beloveds,"  she  explained. 
"I  am  not  judging — I  am  only  doing  what  is 
right  for  me."  Work  and  self-denial  were 
"fun,"  and  every  month  she  put  a  little  money 
in  the  bank.  Sabra,  too,  was  prospering,  and 
began  to  blossom  out  in  handsome  clothes. 

"Mother  did  not  care  enough  about  appear- 
ances," she  once  said  "tranquilly  in  Chloe's 
hearing.  The  presence  of  others  kept  the  little 
sister  quiet,  but  she  was  rigid  with  anger. 

"I  could  kill  Sabra !"  she  burst  out  when  she 


256  THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS 

was  alone.  The  utter  self-abnegation  that  had 
clothed  and  fed  her  mother's  children  and  given 
them  every  advantage  ought  to  have  made  the 
battered  old  garments  sacred.  How  she  had 
done  it  all  was  more  than  ever  a  mystery  since 
her  poor  affairs  had  been  turned  out  for  the 
law's  action.  Uncle  Harry's  dry  phrase,  "She's 
a  wonder,  that  woman,"  often  came  back  to 
Chloe,  now  that  her  mother  was  no  longer 
spoken  of  in  that  tone.  Yes;  she  had  been  a 
wonder. 

The  happy  summer  came,  and  Chloe  would 
take  no  vacation  because  in  October  she  would 
stop.  She  had  half  believed  that  she  wanted 
to  go  on  with  the  office  after  marriage,  but  was 
secretly  glad  that  the  suggestion  made  Alex  so 
very  cross.  Already  they  had  taken  an  apart- 
ment in  a  newer  and  cleaner  district.  Chloe 
was  eager  to  leave  the  little  old  corner  of  town 
where  so  much  that  was  sad  had  happened,  and 
where  only  the  name,  Sereno  Gage,  in  fading 
italics  on  an  old  door-plate,  was  left  to  mark 
her  family  history.  They  were  buying  their 
furniture  in  lunch  hours  and  sending  it  up  to 
the  empty  apartment,  and  sometimes  Chloe 


THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS  257 

wondered  that  Alex,  who  seemed  now  to  have 
money,  should  be  so  content  to  wait  till  October. 
When  she  was  tired  and  alone,  she  could  make 
herself  unhappy  about  it,  and  brooded  over  the 
mysterious  use  that  had  swallowed  up  his  five 
thousand  dollars;  but,  face  to  face,  she  knew 
that  he  wanted  her,  and  that  she  trusted  him, 
and  that  all  was  well.  In  August  Helena  and 
Ralston  decided  to  go  abroad  for  a  few  weeks 
and  Chloe  was  urged  to  come,  but  she  only 
laughed. 

"Leave  my  work  I" 

"You  are  leaving  it  so  soon  anyway,"  Rals- 
ton said,  while  Helena  added  an  astute:  "And 
we're  taking  Billy." 

"I  am  afraid  you  would  have  to  take  Alex, 
too,"  Chloe  explained,  so  contentedly  that  they 
gave  her  up  as  hopeless.  She  was  touched  that 
they  wanted  her,  afraid  afterward  that  she 
had  not  seemed  grateful  enough.  That  was  al- 
ways an  anguishing  fear  to  Chloe.  It  haunted 
her  so  that  she  stole  half  a  morning  from  her 
work  to  go  down  with  them  to  the  boat  and  see 
them  off. 

Even  starting  for  Europe  no  longer  upset 


258  THE  SEED  OF  THE  KIGHTEOUS 

Rawly,  who  had  formerly  come  to  nervous 
crises  over  catching  a  local  ferry.  Now  some 
one  packed  his  things  in  the  most  perfect  of 
receptacles  and  Helena  attended  to  tickets,  de- 
voutly shielding  her  genius  from  practical  wor- 
ries, and  the  faithful  Caroline  had  Billy  firmly 
in  charge.  Steamer  trunks  were  put  on  top  of 
the  motor  while  he  finished  his  after-breakfast 
cigarette ;  he  had  only  to  take  his  hat  and  coat 
and  start.  He  was  exquisitely  conscious  of  all 
this  ease.  His  lids  had  a  contented  droop — 
and  his  boyish  face  was  not  quite  so  narrow  or 
so  poetical  as  it  had  been  in  the  old  days.  He 
was  no  less  beautiful  to  Helena,  however.  She 
was  a  happy  woman  as  she  came  down  the 
steps  between  her  husband  and  her  little  boy, 
and  Chloe,  seeing,  wondered  anew  about  this 
marriage  as  they  drove  away. 

"Rawly  isn't  improving,  but  then  he  isn't 
driving  anybody  crazy,"  she  reflected,  with  a 
sigh  for  the  eternal  human  compromise.  Rals- 
ton was  going  to  study  foreign  stage  methods, 
but  she  had  been  reassured  to  learn  that  he 
would  not  allow  Helena  to  back  his  new  play. 


JHE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS  259 

Money  had  taken  a  more  definite  value  to  him, 
now  that  he  had  it. 

Wharves  and  boats  gave  Chloe  a  dire  trem- 
ble at  the  heart,  but  she  would  not  acknowledge 
it.  Her  mother  would  have  called  that  "sitting 
down."  She  kept  Billy  while  Helena  and  Caro- 
line saw  to  the  luggage,  and  then  they  all  went 
to  the  gangplank  together,  talking  gaily  over 
the  secret  droop  of  the  spirit  that  a  departing 
boat  gives.  Billy,  who  had  been  noisy  with  ex- 
citement in  the  motor,  was  very  quiet  now,  and 
no  one  noticed  a  growing  change  in  his  baby 
face.  Chloe  had  drawn  him  in  front  of  her 
with  a  lift  for  the  gangplank  when  a  scream 
brought  a  shocked  hush  about  them.  He  had 
turned  in  her  hold  and  was  struggling  wildly  to 
get  away,  while  scream  after  scream  came  au- 
tomatically from  some  terror  that  was  beyond 
reason. 

"Billy!  My  baby!"  Chloe  gathered  him  up 
and  they  hurried  back  through  the  crowd  till 
she  found  a  trunk  to  sit  on.  "Billy,  Billy,"  she 
implored,  rocking  him  close  to  her.  "Toto's 
got  you,  dear ;  it's  all  right.  Trust  Toto !" 


260  THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS 

The  screams  stopped,  but  he  sobbed  end- 
lessly, and  Chloe,  feeling  the  trembling  of  his 
little  body,  looked  up  at  the  other  two  with 
dread  understanding. 

"He  remembers,"  she  said  desolately.  "We 
never  found  out  what  he  felt  or  understood — ; 
oh,  I  ought  to  be  killed !  I  might  have  helped 
him." 

They  looked  on  helplessly.  "If  you  carried 
him  on  board,"  Ralston  began. 

She  tried  to  talk  Billy  into  reason,  but  he 
only  cried  and  trembled,  and  when  she  rose 
with  him,  he  shrieked  again.  She  whispered 
over  his  burrowing  head : 

"He  mustn't  go — oh,  you  can't  force  this!" 
She  was  miserably  afraid  that  they  would  be 
impatient  of  him,  would  insist  on  discipline, 
but  both  had  tears  in  their  eyes. 

"We  could  leave  him  and  Caroline,"  Ralston 
suggested,  but  Helena  broke  in: 

"No.  I  couldn't  do  that  I  will  stay,  and 
you  go,  love." 

Chloe  held  her  breath  while  he  hesitated. 
It  seemed  to  her  that  if  he  went,  her  wonder 
about  the  rights  of  this  marriage  would  meet 


THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS  261 

i 

a  blasting  answer.  Perhaps  the  pause  was  not 
so  long  as  it  felt.  Then  the  best  of  Rawly  came 
out,  the  affectionate  sweetness  of  which  his 
mother  had  had  rare  glimpses. 

"I  couldn't  leave  you,  dear,"  he  said,  his  hand 
on  her  shoulder.  "Now,  oughtn't  we  to  be  get- 
ting the  trunks  off?" 

Helena,  of  course,  saw  to  that,  her  face  hap- 
pier than  that  of  any  one  sailing.  They  drove 
straight  up  to  the  Sound  house,  and  Chloe  went 
with  them,  for  Billy  clung  to  her.  He  slept 
exhaustedly  most  of  the  way,  but  his  hands 
twitched  and  his  pallor  showed  how  deep  the 
shock  had  been. 

"You  don't  know  what  goes  on  in  babies," 
Chloe  sighed,  guilty  that  she  had  not  found  out. 
"Now  we  can  only  let  him  forget  it." 

"And  next  summer  we  will  have  a  boat  and 
get  him  used  to  it,"  Ralston  added. 

Billy,  waking  up  at  the  gates  of  his  familiar 
garden,  made  no  allusion  to  what  had  passed, 
and  by  afternoon  he  seemed  to  be  himself 
again.  Chloe  left  him  sitting  on  the  steps 
stroking  a  caterpillar  with  one  careful  finger 
and  murmuring,  "De-ar  little  pussypillar !" 


262  THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS 

with  all  the  usual  sunny  joy  in  living  things. 
She  went  back  at  ease  about  him,  but  shaken 
to  the  depths  herself. 

More  than  ever  now  she  dreaded  the  ninth 
of  September.  She  could  argue  that  anniver- 
saries had  not  actual  significance,  that  her 
mother's  death  was  a  sorrow  which  no  date 
could  deepen;  and  yet  her  heart  grew  sick  at 
the  prospect  of  living  through  that  day.  Leap 
year  had  brought  it  to  Sunday,  so  she  would 
not  have  the  oblivion  of  work  to  help  her.  It 
was  not  the  renewal  of  grief  from  which  she 
shrank,  but  the  horror  that  she  had  had  to  live 
down,  and  the  intolerable  pathos  of  that  buoy- 
ant, gallant,  fighting,  laughed-at  life,  seen  in 
its  splendor  only  at  the  moment  of  death.  No 
one  seemed  to  realize  what  day  was  coming, 
and  she  was  thankful  for  that.  Alex,  parting 
with  her  Saturday  night,  spoke  cheerfully  of 
"first  thing  in  the  morning,"  but  he  often; 
breakfasted  with  them  on  Sunday. 

The  day  was  brilliantly  clear,  with  a  prema- 
ture breath  of  autumn  coolness — mercifully 
different  from  the  strange,  glowing  haze  of 
a  year  ago.  Sabra  was  absorbed  in  her  second- 


THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS  263 

year  lecture  course  and  if  she  remembered  gave 
no  sign.  Alex  came  as  they  were  finishing  their 
silent  breakfast  and  wanted  Chloe  to  go  out 
with  him  at  once.  He  was  very  grave,  and  she 
felt  in  him  some  unexplained  excitement.  She 
would  not  ask  questions,  but  she  trusted  him, 
and  was  glad  of  the  diversion. 

They  took  the  elevated,  getting  off  near  one 
of  the  upper  entrances  of  the  park,  and  were 
presently  following  a  path  that  wound  through 
green  pleasantness,  past  a  little  lost  stream,  up 
to  a  broad  knoll  set  with  pointed  spruce  trees. 
They  had  wood  and  lawn  to  themselves  at  this 
hour,  and  the  trailing  squirrels  came  running 
out  to  meet  them.  The  dewy  brightness  of  the 
day  gave  Chloe  courage.  She  looked  up  with 
a  new  openness  into  Alex's  face. 

"You  knew  what  day  it  is,  and  you're  help- 
ing me,"  she  said.  Then  she  saw  how  pale  he 
was,  and  that  his  silence  had  a  strained  rigid- 
ity. "Dear — ?"  she  questioned.  He  stopped 
her,  a  hand  on  her  arm. 

"I  have  something  to  show  you,  Chloe.  It 
was  done  for  them,  but  it  was  also — for  you. 
It  is  my — apology.  Come." 


264  THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS 

He  led  her  round  the  last  curve  of  the  ascent. 
There  in  a  green  circle  had  been  placed  a  drink- 
ing fountain  of  gray  stone.  The  broken  earth 
showed  the  work  barely  completed.  At  first 
Chloe  saw  only  the  curved  bench,  its  back 
carved  in  delicate  relief,  the  seat  oddly  low, 
and,  set  within  the  curve,  a  low  pedestal  from 
which  water  bubbled  up,  to  fall  into  a  carved 
bowl.  Then  she  saw,  on  the  high  back  of  the 
bench,  the  words, 

FOR  CHILDREN 
and,  underneath  them, 

IN  MEMORY  OF  SERENO  AND 
EMILY  GAGE. 

At  the  same  moment  the  medallions  on  either 
curve  came  alive.  Dim,  like  heads  on  coins,  yet 
exquisitely  significant,  her  father  and  her 
mother  looked  toward  each  other  over  the  little 
heads  that  were  to  come,  gathering  along  the 
bench  and  bending  down  to  the  bubbling  water. 
The  two  lives  that  had  given  themselves  for 


THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS  265 

children  would  here  continue  their  loving  serv- 
ice for  all  time. 

Alex  had  known  that  it  must  break  Chloe 
down.  He  drew  her  to  the  bench  and  held  her 
till  the  shaken  body  grew  quiet  and  at  last  she 
lifted  her  head. 

"Now  tell  me,"  she  whispered.  He  began  at 
once. 

"Well,  it  started  out  of  trying  to  send  back 
the  money  you  turned  over  to  father — you  re- 
member? He  wrote  to  ask  what  sums  had  been 
given,  and  every  answer  begged  that  the  money 
be  kept  and  used  in  some  way.  They  wouldn't 
take  it,  dear.  I  had  that  five  thousand,  and 
could  earn  more,  and  oh,  Chloe,  I  wanted  to  do 
something !"  His  arms,  tightening,  told  her 
why,  and  hers  answered.  "So  I  thought  of 
this,  and  they  all  liked  it,  and  we  got  permis- 
sion to  put  it  here,  and  Carroll  did  it  for  us — 
pushed  aside  other  work ;  and  I  made  them  keep 
it  quiet,  for  I  wanted  to  offer  it  to  you  whole, 
my  Chloe.  And  I  had  to  have  it  finished  for 
this  day.  They  couldn't  promise,  but  they 
worked  day  and  night,  and  it  was  barely  in 
time.  And  now — is  it  all  right?" 


266  THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS 

No  need  to  answer,  with  her  cheek  against 
his.  A  long  silence  brought  them  so  close  that 
the  last  barrier  was  down,  and  Chloe  could  talk 
to  him  of  her  mother. 

"I  have  thought  about  her  so  much,"  she  be- 
gan slowly.  "Do  you  know,  if  this  world  were 
a  Utopia,  she  would  have  been  the  biggest  per- 
son in  it.  For,  after  all,  delicacy — I've  thought 
this  all  out,  Alex — delicacy  is  only  our  recogni- 
tion of  the  other  person's — unwillingness :  that 
he  wants  his  money  or  his  possessions  or  his 
time  undisturbed.  She  was  so  gloriously  a 
giver  that  she  couldn't  understand  being  un- 
willing. She  didn't  allow  for  it.  So  they 
laughed  at  her,  and  called  her  words" — she  felt 
him  wince,  and  tightened  her  hold,  looking  up 
with  a  grave  smile.  "Don't  mind,  dear;  I  don't 
any  more.  Since  the  world  is  as  it  is,  getting 
things  for  us  all  the  time  would  be  called  graft. 
Only,  you  see,  she  got  things  for  everybody — • 
everybody  who  needed.  And  in  a  perfect  world, 
where  everybody  lived  to  help — my  love,  what 
a  glorious,  giving  angel  she  would  have  been! 
They  saw  it,  a  little,  when  she  died.  And  now 
they  will  always  remember  it — you  did  that." 


THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS  267 

She  turned  to  look  up  at  the  two  faces  and  the 
carved  words : 

FOR  CHILDREN 
IN  MEMORY  OF  SERENO  AND  EMILY  GAGE 

"They  will  go  on  together.  Oh,  my  Alex,  I 
feel  so  full  of  peace !" 

They  stayed  till  the  Sunday  invasion  began; 
then  they  drank  at  the  fountain  and  went 
slowly  on.  When  they  paused  to  look  back, 
children  were  already  gathering.  Like  spar- 
rows they  crowded  over  the  bowl,  and  soon  a 
row  of  little  heads  showed  against  the  high  back 
of  the  bench.  The  two  smiled  at  each  other  in 
wordless  satisfaction. 

"There  is  only  one  thing  good  enough  to  do 
now,"  Chloe  said,  when  they  had  gone  on.  Alex 
took  out  a  latch-key. 

"We'll  see  if  the  book-shelves  have  been  put 
up,"  he  assented. 

The  key  let  them  into  a  group  of  bare  rooms, 
strewn  with  haphazard  piles  of  furniture,  still 
in  wrappings,  dusty  windows  closed  on  the 
day's  freshness ;  but  home  is  primarily  a  state 


268  THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS 

of  mind,  and  to  them  the  little  place  was  rich 
with  welcome.  They  let  in  the  air,  then  went 
hand  in  hand  from  room  to  room,  happily  volu- 
ble in  one,  practical  in  another,  suddenly  silent 
in  a  third.  Out  in  the  kitchen  Chloe  found  her 
voice  again,  rejoicing  in  its  clean  compactness 
and  the  enchanting  pots  and  pans  that  had  al- 
ready arrived. 

"I  tell  you  one  thing,  Alex,"  Chloe  laid  down 
the  law,  "no  hired  person  is  going  to  have  the 
first  using  of  this  darling  enamelware.  By  and 
by  we  shall  have  to  hire  a  cook,  I — hope ;"  they 
smiled  at  each  other ;  "meanwhile,  I  shall  have 
a  woman  in  when  I  need  her,  but  it  is  my 
kitchen!" 

"But,  Toto,  darling,  you  are  not  going  to  do 
your  own  work!" 

She  had  been  getting  ready  for  this  moment 
for  a  long  time.  "My  'own  work/  "  she  re- 
peated meaningfully.  "You  see,  you  call  it  that 
yourself,  dear.  Now  don't  fuss.  I  can  cook 
very  nicely,  and  it  will  be  fun — everything  is 
so  fresh  and  new  and  handy!  It's  that  or  the 
office — take  your  choice." 

He  was  leaning  against  the  washtubs,  eying 


THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS  269 

.her  dubiously.  "I  wonder  just  what  you've  got 
in  your  head !" 

She  came  close  to  him,  laying  her  palms  on 
his  coat.  "I  want  to,  and  it's  fun;  that  is  all 
honest,"  she  said  slowly.  "But  there  is  more. 
I  have  got  to  do  my  share — to  pull  even.  Oh, 
dearest,  I  have  learned  the  blessedness  of  not 
eternally  taking,  taking,  taking.  And  it  was 
you  taught  me,  so  you  needn't  scowl.  Try  to 
understand,  Alex:  it  isn't  for  your  sake — it's 
for  mine.  I  have  found  something  too  good  to 
lose!" 

"But,  Chloe,  as  my  wife — "  he  burst  out. 

"Yes,"  she  held  him  closer,  a  laugh  in  her 
eyes.  "Even  as  your  wife,  I  am  going  to  pull 
my  end.  You  work  very,  very  hard;  I  can't 
just  sit  round  and  look  on.  I'll  obey  you  all 
you  like  in — in  a  great  many  things ;"  the  laugh 
ran  over.  "But  you  can't  take  from  me  the 
best  thing  you  ever  taught  me !"  She  was  still 
little  Chloe,  with  her  wistful  angel  face  tilted 
up  at  him,  but  she  was  also  the  grown  woman 
who  had  found  her  way,  and  Alex  mutely  sur- 
rendered. At  every  stage  of  their  love,  they 
had  thought  it  could  go  no  higher,  but  that  mo- 


270  THE  SEED  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS 

ment  of  silent  recognition,  of  trust  and  equal- 
ity, seemed  to  take  them  into  the  sacred  heart 
of  marriage.  When  at  last  his  arms  released 
her,  they  looked  about  as  though  their  posses- 
sions had  taken  on  a  new  beauty. 

"I  don't  see  why  we  wait  till  October,"  Alex 
said. 


THE  END 


UC  SOUTHERN  REGIONAL  LIBRARY  FACILITY 


A     000  123  240     4 


